Phantom
by Stars of Orion
Summary: "Kill him." Shindou's voice echoed. Tenma's eyes widened. Tsurugi nodded and took a step forward towards the brunet. "Understood."
1. It Felt So Real

This isn't exactly my first time writing but it's definitely my first time publishing. I'd like to see comments and critics if possible! If you're wondering, this is set in the 3 months period that was given in between the end of Inazuma Eleven GO and the start of Inazuma Eleven GO 2: Chrono Stone. I've had this story in my folders for too long, it should be about time I share it.

* * *

**Phantom  
**

**Chapter 1**

**It Felt So Real**

Matsukaze Tenma ran. He ran as fast as he could, in the same time making sure the ball was in his possession. Bruises decorated his body, his arms, his legs – but he ignored the pain. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

_"You've gotten slower, Tenma." _A cold voice whispered into his ears. Tenma gasped and hurriedly turned around. He was still keeping the ball – thank god.

The young teen's eyes narrowed in confusion. Kirino and Kariya stood in front of him. Both of them were wearing ripped black robes. Tenma gritted his teeth. The two defenders were smirking.

"Seriously, Tenma, you're too slow." Kirino took a step forward – followed by Kariya.

"Kirino-senpai… Kariya…" Tenma felt his insides twisting inside of him. He didn't want to waste anymore time so he turned around and started to dribble again. It was useless trying to talk to them. Ignorance was his best option.

He didn't know where he was going. All around him, he could only see trees. That wouldn't be a surprise, since he was in a forest and stuff. But he didn't know this path. He had never travelled this part of the forest.

Up ahead, he saw a building. An ancient building that didn't come from his time. He smiled. "This is it,"

A sudden pain came from his abdomen. Tenma coughed and dropped to the ground. The ball he was dribbling rolled a few feet away. Tenma looked up – his blue eyes in search of the person who had kicked another ball towards him.

He wasn't surprised to see Hayami and Hamano.

"Hayami-senpai… Hamano-senpai…"

"What's wrong, Tenma? Too tired to go on?" Hamano mocked his junior with a sinister smirk. He and Hayami were both wearing the same ripped black robes Kirino and Kariya were wearing. A soccer ball was seen in Hayami's hand. Tenma averted his gaze. He didn't dare to look at their faces.

The brunet stood up with much effort and he dribbled again with the ball from earlier. He tried his best to ignore their sinister smirks and their cold eyes. Though, instead of feeling confused, a new feeling came from inside of him. He smirked to himself – suddenly filled with pride. He ran into the ancient building, still dribbling the ball.

Just as he had expected, the place was deserted. Rubble and ruins were everywhere. In the far edge of the vast and vacant building, he saw a rusted and old goal post. Tenma gripped his Raimon soccer uniform. Determination came into him and the smirk he was wearing disappeared.

He dribbled towards the goal.

Just as he was halfway to the goal, a dark but small figure appeared in front of him – almost as fast as lightning. The figure was wearing an eye mask, the same black and ripped robe and under the robe was his Raimon soccer team uniform.

Tenma stopped dribbling and placed his foot on the ball. His fists tightened.

"Shinsuke…"

The said defender took a step forward. Tenma stepped back a little.

"This is as far as you go, Tenma…" the small defender said and raised his hand. Tenma flinched. He quickly jumped into the sky. The goal was still a little further away but he knew he could do it. Just as he was about to kick the ball, another dark figure appeared in front of him. Both of them were floating in the sky.

Tenma's eyes widened and he quickly kept the ball in his possession by turning to the other side. Another dark figure – different than the first one – blocked him. The same thing happened over and over again until the brunet landed on his feet again. Tenma dropped to one knee. Fatigue was making its way into his system. His breathing was rapid and unsteady. But he wasn't going to give up. Things will work out. Everything will work out.

He struggled to stand up. His foot was still on the ball. He looked around. Damn it, he was surrounded.

All of them were wearing the same Raimon uniform, the same black robe and the same eye mask. There were eleven people in total. And all of them were his teammates; or more accurately, his ex-teammates.

One of them stepped forward. Tenma recognized him immediately. He gripped his right shoulder and winced in pain. He closed one of his eyes to get a better look since his vision was suddenly getting blurry.

"You…" Tenma uttered.

The navy blue haired teenager walked towards Tenma without saying a word. Tenma stared at Tsurugi's blank face. There was no expression. There was no smile, no smirk – just a face of a robot.

Tenma noticed something. He looked up a little bit more and saw an indoor balcony. He gasped when he saw Shindou, Kirino and Sangoku on it. Shindou – besides Tenma – was the only one that wasn't wearing a black robe. Shindou was also the only one not wearing an eye mask. Because of this though, Tenma could see how cold his eyes were. How they were so filled with hate.

The brunet saw the captain of Raimon talk into a walkie-talkie. He was too far away to hear what Shindou said. But he didn't need to wait long as Tsurugi had the other end of the communication.

_"Kill him, if all else fails."_

"Understood," Tsurugi replied.

Tenma gasped again as a dark blue coloured aura surrounded Tsurugi like a tornado. The tornado-like aura swallowed Tsurugi but disappeared as soon as it appeared. Tenma was sure that was a hissatsu technique. He didn't know who or what said it but he could hear the name of the hissatsu in the distance.

_Phantoms' Pact_

Sweat rolled down Tenma's chin. His vision was getting worse and he was losing his balance. He dropped to his knees again. He tried to keep his gaze on Tsurugi's face. But something caught his eye; something on Tsurugi's hand.

Tsurugi was wearing a two-finger claw studded with jewels.

They weren't joking when they wanted to kill him.

Tenma clutched the Raimon symbol on his uniform. His eyes slowly watered as his face slowly met the ground.

_Tsurugi… Everyone…_

* * *

"ACK!" Tenma shouted in shock and sat up. He looked around. He was in his room. So… So all of that was just a dream? No, no, a nightmare; a crazy but awful nightmare. He noticed that his palms were sweating. The brunet rubbed his hands against his blanket. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself since his breathing was unstable.

_It was just a nightmare, Tenma. It was just a nightmare that felt so real…_

His eyes shot open. That's right, everything was too real. It was almost as if it really happened. But Tenma knew it never did. Or maybe it did and he died…? Okay, that was nonsense. He was still in his room and – glancing at the clock – he was going to be late for morning practice.

_Wait, morning practice._

_Oh, dang it!_

Tenma jumped out of his bed and panicked. "AKI-NEE, WHERE DID I PUT MY UNIFORM?!"

* * *

"Tenma! You're late!" Shinsuke said with a small pout. Tenma scratched the back of his head. He already changed into his jersey. "Sorry…" he apologized.

Shinsuke grinned and went behind Tenma. "Alright, let's practice!" he started to push Tenma towards the field. But as soon as he pushed the brunet, Tenma suddenly jumped into the air and did a back flip; though he landed on his butt since his flip wasn't all that perfect. Shinsuke blinked as he stared at Tenma's terrified face. What confused him even more was that Tenma was trembling – as if he was afraid.

"Ten… ma…?

The brunet snapped out of his daze and looked at Shinsuke. He then looked at his hands and the position he was in. "Um… did I just… did a flip?"

Shinsuke sweat dropped. "You didn't even realize it…?"

Tenma quickly shook his head. He laughed and stood up. Shinsuke joined his laughing feat.

* * *

The bell rang, signalling recess. Kariya stood up from his seat. Man, he was totally famished. He walked from his desk to Tenma's desk and tapped the brunet's shoulder. "Ne, Tenma-kun, are you-"

But he was cut off when Tenma suddenly turned around and grabbed his wrist. Kariya's eyes widened. He stared at Tenma's eyes and noticed that they were distant – as if Tenma was in another world and he wasn't conscious of what he was doing. Moreover, Tenma's hand that was holding Kariya's was shaking.

"Tenma-kun…?" Kariya tried again. He shook his hand free from Tenma's grasp and rubbed his wrist.

_That was a tight hold…_

"E-Eh? Kariya?" Tenma held his head. He shook it a little. Kariya's eyes narrowed at Tenma's weird antics. "Tenma-kun, are you alright?"

Tenma's eyes shot open. "A-Ah," he smiled. "I'm fine. I'm just, fine." He said and hurriedly walked out of the classroom.

Kariya turned his head to Aoi, who was watching. Aoi shook her head, signalling that she didn't know what was wrong with Tenma. Kariya turned his head to the door again – still rubbing his sore wrist.

* * *

"Today Coach Endou won't be here with us for evening practice," Haruna announced in the clubroom. Everybody gasped at this. Shindou – who was still in his school uniform – walked towards Haruna. "Why? Did something happen?"

Haruna giggled. "Coach Endou is with Kidou and Gouenji-san right now. They decided to meet up in a restaurant for lunch,"

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. That certainly shocked them. Of course, they thought something bad had happened. But it turns out their coach was just hanging out with the former Holy Emperor, Gouenji Shuuya and Teikoku Academy's commander, Kidou Yuuto.

As everyone finished changing, Kariya sneaked up on Kirino – who was sitting on one of the sofas with Shindou. "Kirino-senpai~" he whispered.

Kirino turned his head around and almost jumped at Kariya's sudden appearance. But he kept his composure. Shindou turned to look at Kariya too.

"W-What's wrong, Kariya?"

"It's about Tenma-kun," Kariya whispered. Kirino turned his head to Shindou. Both of them had their eyebrows raised.

"What about Tenma?" Shindou asked, stealing a glance at the brunet who was happily having a conversation with Hikaru.

"He's been acting weird all day," Kariya explained. Both of his seniors looked at him and gave _him_ weird looks. "I'm telling the truth!" he pouted.

"Kariya's right!" Shinsuke appeared out of nowhere on Kariya's head, resulting into a number of gasps. The light-blue haired defender almost toppled backwards if he hadn't grabbed the sofa that was in front of him.

Shindou turned his gaze on Shinsuke. A wave of worry washed him. "What did he do?"

"Well, for starters, he came late this morning for practice… and then when I was pushing him towards the field, he suddenly did a back flip!" Shinsuke said. Kirino's eyebrows furrowed together. "A back flip…?"

"Yeah! And he didn't even realize it!"

The two seniors' eyes widened.

"And during lunch earlier…" Kariya started as he stood up. Shinsuke jumped off of him so that he could speak. "He grabbed my wrist when I was about to ask him if he'd like to have lunch with me. Here, look," Kariya said and revealed his wrist. There were red finger marks on it. "His grip was so tight." His eyes narrowed.

"Not only that! He spaced out in class numerous of times too!" Aoi appeared form behind Kariya and shook her finger. Kariya, who wasn't expecting another surprise, tripped over his own feet from shock. "Oi! Cut it out!" he said, clearly agitated. "But now that you mention it, he was rubbing his temples countless of times too, like he was having a headache or something…"

Kirino and Shindou narrowed their eyes. Something was definitely wrong with Tenma. Just as Shindou was about to say something, all five of them heard a loud crash. Their heads snapped to the source of the interruption.

Tenma's back was against the lockers and his body was visibly trembling. He was staring at Kurumada's raised hand – it was clear he was trying to give Tenma another hit on the back like how Midori always did. The senior blinked in confusion at Tenma's sudden movement of defence. "Tenma? Did I do something wrong?"

"A-Ah, no! You didn't do anything wrong at all, Kurumada-senpai!" Tenma said as he regained his composure. The brunet bowed in apology.

Shindou stared at his junior. He took note of Tenma's still trembling hand. Something smelt fishy.

"See?" Kariya whispered and jabbed a thumb towards the still-bowing Tenma. "His reactions. Would he really jump to the locker?"

Kirino turned his head to his best friend. Worry decorated his face. "Shindou…"

"We just have to keep an eye on him. There must be a reason to his actions," Shindou said and stood up. "We'll find out more during practice," he looked at the other four who were involved in the conversation with confidence. They all nodded back at him.

* * *

"Hamano-kun! Pass!" Hayami called. Hamano nodded his head and sent the ball to Hayami.

Since the coach wasn't here today, everybody was practicing on their own. Haruna and the managers observed from the benches as the team concentrated on improving their teamwork.

"Shindou!" Hayami called out and passed the ball to the captain.

Shindou was about to receive the ball, when Tsurugi intercepted it. The first year student started to dribble towards the other goal – where Shinsuke was at. Shindou smiled at this. From the benches, he could hear Midori complimenting Tsurugi's cut. He gave chase and tried to steal the ball from the forward.

"That's it Shindou! Fight back!" Midori shouted with a huge grin on her face.

Tsurugi dribbled, trying to avoid Shindou's tackles. He spotted Nishiki out of the corner of his eye and passed the ball to him. Shindou gasped as Nishiki perfectly caught the ball.

"Nice, Nishiki!" there goes Midori again.

The samurai of the team dribbled towards the goal. Kariya stepped into his path. "You're not getting past me! Hunter's N-" but before he could finish, Nishiki smirked and quickly kicked the ball to the left. Kariya gasped and didn't continue with his hissatsu. Hikaru quickly caught the ball with his foot and dribbled to the goal. Nishiki had been a decoy; Hikaru was the one who was going to shoot.

"Extend Zone!" Hikaru shouted and kicked the ball with all of his power.

Shinsuke called out his keshin, "Goseishin Titanias!" and he easily caught the ball. He grinned with satisfaction. Hikaru grinned back.

"Nice catch, Shinsuke!"

"Your shoot was incredible too, Hikaru!"

Shindou smiled at everyone's enthusiasm. But then something occurred to him. He didn't see Tenma. The strategist glanced around the field. He found Tenma near Sangoku's goal post – but still a good distance away from the mentioned goalkeeper. The brunet was alone, kicking the ball up and down again – not really doing any sort of practice. Shindou felt the worry and confusion from earlier come back to him.

"What do you think we should do, Shindou?" Kirino said as the defender walked and stop next to him. Shindou turned his head to the side. Kirino was watching Tenma too. The strategist turned his head to the midfielder again.

"I don't know, Kirino… I don't know…"

Just as soon as those words left his mouth, Tenma suddenly dropped to the ground with his hands on his head. Both Kirino and Shindou gasped. "TENMA!" they ran towards their junior. Their shouts had attracted the attention of the others, who quickly followed suit.

Sangoku was already beside Tenma by the time Shindou arrived.

"Oi, Tenma! Keep it together!" Sangoku said, trying to reassure the brunet who shook his head in response. The goalkeeper tried to hold Tenma but the midfielder slapped his hand away and screamed, "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Sangoku gasped and retrieved his hand. Tenma was still shaking his head. Everybody from Raimon was behind Sangoku. Some of them were afraid of going closer to Tenma while some were just unsure of what to do.

"TENMA!" Aoi squeezed herself out of the group and kneeled next to Tenma. Haruna followed behind her. "Tenma-kun, are you okay?!" the club's advisor shouted in worry.

Tenma forced an eye open and he looked at Aoi. His eyes were filling up with tears. Aoi gasped in shock.

"No… No… _NO_!" Tenma closed his eyes again and screamed. He rolled onto his back – as if in pain. Shindou couldn't take it anymore. He ran forward. Kirino followed him. Each of them grabbed Tenma's arms.

"Tenma! Tenma! Hold it together!" Shindou shouted. He tried to calm the brunet down but he failed.

Tenma opened his eyes again. When he saw his two seniors' faces, he started to scream louder. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" he kicked and struggled. He wriggled himself out of Shindou and Kirino's grasp and landed right in front of Aoi. His childhood friend held his shoulders. She shook him a little, panicking.

"TENMA…!"

"Aoi…" Tenma's hand found its way on her shoulder. "Save me, Aoi…" he whispered as he looked up and stared at Aoi in the eye. A tear drop ran down his cheek. "Please, don't let them kill me…" and he fell into her arms unconscious.

Aoi was dumbfounded as her eyes widened. Kill him…? Who? Who would want to kill Tenma? "Tenma…! Tenma!" she shook him again, trying to wake him up. But her efforts were in vain.

"Akane-san! Call the ambulance!" Haruna ordered and the girl quickly fumbled with her mobile phone.

Everyone stared at Tenma as Tsurugi and Shindou helped carry his unconscious body to the benches. Aoi held her chin, thinking about Tenma's words. Her eyes were glistening in confusion and pure worry.

* * *

"I'm not sure what happened either… Yes, yes… I'm really sorry, Aki-san…" Haruna hung up and walked back to the team. Inside, she was getting that strange feeling of déjà vu when Shindou had been injured. Just as she reached the team, the doctor came out. Aoi and Shinsuke were the first to run to him. Haruna quickened her steps. Aki would be here soon, along with Endou, Kidou and Gouenji.

"How is he, doctor?! It's nothing serious, right?!" Aoi panicked.

Haruna placed a hand on Aoi's shoulder. "Everything will be fine," she said to Aoi as the girl turned her head to face the soccer club's advisor.

The doctor smiled. "There's nothing to worry about. He's fine now," the doctor reassured everybody. All of them sighed with relief. "But I don't think he'll be able to receive any visitors for the time being… I can only allow close relatives to visit him," the doctor continued.

Everybody in the team gasped. Shindou walked closer to the doctor. "Why?"

"He may be physically fine, but his emotions aren't. Currently, he seems to have some sort of emotional instability. I can't do anything about it. Only time will cure him," the doctor said regretfully and walked away.

Shinsuke look down. One could see the shock on his face. "No way…"

"What's this about Tenma…?" a voice not far from them said and all heads turned around to see Endou, Kidou and Gouenji jogging towards all of them. Shindou, as the captain, was the first to explain everything to their coach and the other two adults. Haruna stood beside Shindou, supporting every word he said.

"So I see…" Endou rubbed his chin. "I guess only Aki can visit him then…" he exclaimed. Gouenji was seen talking to Tsurugi and Kidou was talking to Haruna. Endou suddenly felt somebody pulling his jacket from behind and turned around. He saw Aoi looking at him with teary but determined eyes. "C-Coach Endou, can we talk a-alone…?" she asked. Endou pursed his lips in confusion and nodded. Both of them walked further away from everybody else.

"What is it, Aoi?"

"Tenma… he… he told me to save him…" the girl said in a quiet voice. Endou gasped at this but narrowed his eyes. Something didn't feel right.

"Save him from what?"

"I don't know… He just told me to save him… And he said something about people wanting to kill him…" her voice cracked. She covered her mouth with a hand.

Endou was taken aback at this. Kill him? His fists tightened. Somehow, all of this seemed really familiar to him. He smiled, trying to reassure the manager. He placed a hand on her shoulder and grinned.

"It's fine. Everything will work out, right?"


	2. I'll Be Alright

Wow! I didn't really think I'd get any reviews at all! All of you are so kind! Thank you so much!

I would like to say that this fanfiction is heavily based on friendship so all the fluff you'll be reading between the characters are bromance and nothing more (after friendship this fanfiction is also heavily based on mystery so y'all better be on the edge of your seats - because not all is what it seems like)

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**Phantom**

**Chapter 2**

**I'll be Okay**

His body felt so heavy – like thousands of weights were on top of him. Tenma's eyes slowly fluttered open. His head throbbed but not as much as before. His vision was a little blurry. Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room.

"Huh…?"

The room was dark like night. Tenma didn't recognize the ceiling above him nor did he recognize the bed he was in. The brunet was tired – too tired to even sit up. He moaned and slowly moved his body so he was resting on his side. Tenma was certain by now that he wasn't in his room. But he had this strange gut feeling that he had been in a room like this countless of times before. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something up.

His eyes slowly opened again. Of course – Taiyou and Yuuichi-san were both placed in a room like this. So does this mean he was in a hospital? But… why?

"What… happened…?"

Tenma winced. His head throbbed harder. He tried to think of a good reason to why he was in a hospital room in the middle of the night but his headache only got worse. His hand held his head. Why couldn't he remember what happened yesterday? All he remembered was getting ready for school and everything else was blank. Tenma sighed and closed his eyes. Maybe he would get an answer when he woke up again. It would be best if he slept anyway – it looked like the sun was far from rising.

* * *

Fuyuka walked into Tenma's room. When she saw the teen's sleeping figure, she sighed. Slowly, she walked towards the windows and tied the curtains together – enabling the morning sunlight to enter the building.

She heard a moan and quickly turned her head to Tenma's bed. The teen was stirring in his sleep. Soon enough, his eyes opened and Fuyuka smiled.

"How are you feeling, Tenma-kun?" she approached the teen. Tenma looked at her with tired eyes and slowly pushed himself up from under the covers into a sitting position. The brunet rubbed his eyes before yawning. "Tired…" he replied.

Fuyuka giggled. "Aki-san visited you yesterday night, but she had to leave to take care of Sasuke."

Tenma blinked. "How long have I been here?"

"Less than twenty four hours – you were in a pretty bad shape when the ambulance took you here,"

The brunet shook his head. His eyes closed again. "Why… Why am I here?"

Fuyuka gasped. "You don't remember?"

Tenma shook his head again. He opened his eyes and stared at Fuyuka with a confused expression. "I only remember panicking in the morning because I was late for practice,"

"I see… Well, I don't know the full details so you might want to ask your teammates when you have the chance," Fuyuka smiled again. "Are you hungry? I'll get you something to eat,"

Tenma smiled a little and softly nodded. Some food sounded nice right now. Fuyuka nodded back and turned to the door. Before she closed it behind her, she turned around. "By the way, Taiyou wanted to see you ever since he saw your ambulance pull up. He was really worried about you, he even tried to sneak out again just to see you," she giggled. "Don't be surprised if he suddenly pops out of nowhere while you're in here," she advised and closed the door.

Tenma blinked. "Pft!" he chuckled. "Taiyou, huh?" he smiled to himself. He looked out the window. Soon the smile he was wearing turned into a frown. He wondered what his teammates were doing right now. Of course, they might be practicing since it was still early.

* * *

Hayami sighed and held his head. "I can't believe something like this happened! And it's barely been a week since the Holy Road finals!" he said a little shakily. Everybody in Raimon turned their heads to him. All of them had solemn faces.

The team was in the clubroom, waiting for their coach. Most of them were sitting on their designated tables while Shindou and a few others were sitting on the sofas in front of the TV. The managers were huddled together on one of the sofas.

"I hope Tenma's okay…" Shinsuke muttered his worry with a sigh.

"I'm not being rude or anything, but Tenma really scared me yesterday," Kariya said and was elbowed by a scowling Midori. A few murmurs were heard until Shindou spoke up.

"Kariya is right. Tenma wasn't himself yesterday. I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised to see him like that," he gripped his hands together as he stared at the floor.

Just then, the doors slid open and Coach Endou walked in with a frown on his face. "Everyone, I'd like your attention please," the murmurs died down in the room as everybody turned their heads to the coach. "Aki just called me. Apparently, Tenma won't be coming to practice for today."

Gasps echoed in the room. "Coach Endou, why?! Whatever happened to him, it couldn't be that serious, right?!" Hikaru asked and approached the coach with a very shocked expression.

Coach Endou shook his head. "You're right, it's not serious. But the doctor told her that Tenma should rest for a few more days and also…" the adult pressed his lips together. His gaze averted to the side, not really wanting to tell his students the news but he knew he had to.

All of the soccer players waited in silence and worry – anxious of what their coach might say next. Tsurugi – who was leaning against the wall in his tracks – tapped his finger on his elbow. He got impatient. "And…?"

Coach Endou sighed. He turned his head to face everyone in the room again. "He advised her to never leave him alone – no matter what."

Everyone exchanged confused glances. Never leave Tenma alone? Why?

"Is there a reason behind it?" Tsurugi asked again. Everyone could hear the worry and curiosity in his tone.

Coach Endou shook his head. "I don't understand it myself but the doctor has confirmed Tenma to be depressed. He's not fully recovered but he's definitely better than yesterday though. Being alone might cause him to fall into depression again."

This time, the gasps were louder – a depressed Tenma? Was it the end of the world?

"So Aki has requested that you, the Raimon Eleven, help Tenma out of his depression by accompanying him at all times," Coach Endou smiled. He scanned the room. "When things work out, we'll get the Tenma that we all know and love again!" he grinned.

Even though none of them fully understood Tenma's problem, they smiled nonetheless. All of them looked at each other and nodded.

"Who knew a kid like him could fall into depression… Hey, Hamano, do you think something happened to him that we didn't know about?" Kurama crossed his arms behind his head and asked the black haired teen.

Hamano lifted his hands up and shook his head. "Beats me, I'm not around him 24/7,"

"What about you, Shinsuke?" the forward turned his head to the small first year.

Shinsuke gave the same reply. "Aoi is usually the one who hangs out with him," he tried to look for her in the room but found that she wasn't anywhere to be seen. "E-EH?! WHERE'S AOI?!"

All eyes turned to Shinsuke. But then their eyes started to look for Aoi. And once again, none of them saw her.

That is, until she walked into the clubroom with Haruna. Shinsuke heaved a sigh of relief. He quickly ran to the manager. "Aoi! Where did you go?!"

Aoi blinked at him before giggling a little. "I was helping Haruna-sensei with some work. Why did you ask?"

Shinsuke pouted. "I thought something happened to you, okay! Usually you and Tenma were the first ones to be in the room,"

The girl patted his head. "I'm here now, right?"

Shinsuke grumbled and turned to sit next to Hikaru. A few laughs from the other soccer players were heard. Shindou suddenly stood up from his seat. He walked towards Coach Endou.

"Coach Endou, I think it would be best if one of us visited Tenma at the hospital today," he suggested. Coach Endou nodded his head and his gaze immediately turned to the one person who would be perfect for the job. He grinned. "Tsurugi!"

The said first year looked surprised but recomposed himself before walking to the coach. "Yes?"

"I want you to visit Tenma after school today," Coach Endou said simply.

Tsurugi gasped at this. "M-Me? What about practice?"

"Yes, you. You're excused from evening practice. I want you to see if Tenma's doing well," Coach Endou's grin didn't fade. "He's your best friend, isn't he?"

Tsurugi's cheeks were a little pink at the mention of Tenma being his best friend. Shindou noticed this and chuckled. The navy blue haired forward nodded his head after a cough. He smiled a little. "I understand,"

* * *

Tenma shoved another spoonful into his mouth and grinned. "This is delicious! Aki-nee's cooking is always the best!"

The mentioned woman giggled to herself as she watched Tenma eat. She woke up really early that day and made some food for the brunet. She was lucky she ran into Fuyuka in the lobby before the nurse was able to buy some food for Tenma. Aki stared at Tenma with a soft smile. Worry was seen in her eyes. The conversation she had with Endou a few minutes earlier lingered in her mind.

It was a really shocking thing for her. Really, who would have thought that the cheerful teen in front of her was going through that? It was hard to believe – even harder when she's watching him eat so joyfully.

"Ne Aki-nee, when can I leave?" Tenma asked with a mouthful of rice. He swallowed.

"The doctor said you would have to stay here for the rest of the day and then you can go back home first thing in the morning," she said with a smile.

Tenma pouted. "Eeeh? Is my condition really that serious? I just want to play soccer again!" he frowned and shoved another spoonful of rice into his mouth. His face showed that he was unsatisfied with the fact that Aki had just told him.

"Tenma, take it slow and steady! You might end up fainting again if you rush yourself!" Aki scolded him with a worried frown.

The brunet stopped chewing. His eyes were wide and he turned slightly to the side. "I fainted?" he tilted his head – as if not believing what Aki told him.

Aki's eyebrows furrowed together. "Yes, during practice yesterday. You don't remember?"

"I don't remember anything from yesterday at all!" Tenma exclaimed with his eyes closed and mouth wide. Another spoonful of rice went into his mouth. "Not that yesterday was an important day or anything," he chewed with his eyes still closed.

Aki shook her head and sighed. The door to Tenma's room opened and an orange haired teenager walked in with a grin. "Tenma-kun!"

Tenma and Aki both turned their heads to the door. The brunet's face was decorated with a grin when he saw his friend. "Taiyou!"

Aki smiled to herself and stood up. It was time. "Tenma, I'll be going back home now. I still have chores to do," she picked up her bag.

Tenma nodded at her. "See you soon, Aki-nee!"

The woman nodded her head and walked to the door where Taiyou was still at. The teenager stepped back a little to let her pass. Aki smiled at Taiyou. "Thank you," she whispered and walked away. Taiyou nodded at her and walked into Tenma's room. He closed the door.

"So, Tenma-kun, how long has it been since we last saw each other?" the cheerful teen asked.

Tenma smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "I don't know, I sort of lost track of time!"

Taiyou pouted. "That's mean!" he sat on the chair Aki was sitting on earlier. He saw what Tenma was doing and his eyes brightened. "And that looks delicious!"

"It _is_ delicious! Aki-nee made it for me. You want to try?" Tenma offered and held out a spoon of rice. Taiyou nodded and opened his mouth. He inched closer to Tenma. The brunet shoved the spoon in and grinned. Taiyou smiled. "Wow, this is better than the food they make here!" he said.

Tenma laughed. "Hey Taiyou, did you sneak out just to see me?" a playful smirk was seen on his face.

Taiyou choked before he even had the chance the swallow. "O-Of course not! Fuyuka-san gave me permission to sit here with you all day!"

Tenma's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

The orange haired teen gulped down a cup of water and nodded his head. Tenma smiled. He started to laugh as Taiyou chocked on the _water _this time.

* * *

Tsurugi walked down the sidewalk. School ended a few minutes ago. As he was told to do, he was now on his way to visit Tenma. The brunet's antics yesterday really worried him – even though he didn't really show it. He was like everyone else. They were shaken up by Tenma yesterday too. And then Coach Endou told them the midfielder was _depressed_? As far as Tsurugi was concerned, Tenma wasn't the type who was easily depressed. In fact, if the brunet felt like he couldn't do something, he'll just smile to himself with a determined face and whisper 'Everything will work out!'

The navy blue haired teenager walked into the hospital lobby. He went up to the reception desk and asked for Tenma's room number. Once he got the information he wanted, Tsurugi quickly went to the elevator and pressed the 'up' button.

The elevator door opened to reveal Fuyuka. The nurse smiled at Tsurugi. "Are you here to see Tenma?" she asked while hugging her clipboard.

Tsurugi, who was a little surprised seeing her, nodded. Fuyuka stepped aside and Tsurugi walked in. The nurse pressed the right floor button for him.

"Thanks,"

"No problem," Fuyuka turned around and smiled. "I'm the one who should be thanking you. I'm sure you've heard of Tenma's condition, right?"

Tsurugi slowly nodded.

Fuyuka's smile didn't fade. "The doctor has given any friend of Tenma's special permission to stay until he falls asleep," she explained. "So I hope you'll take the job, Tsurugi-kun."

The elevator door opened at Tsurugi's designated floor. Stay with Tenma until he falls asleep? The lad smiled to himself and nodded. "Yeah," he said softly and walked out. Fuyuka giggled and the elevator door closed again. Tsurugi walked down the hallway until he found Tenma's name. He stood in front of the door for a few seconds, slowly trying to register the fact that Tenma was a patient in a hospital. Somehow, deep down inside him, it didn't sound right. He sighed and knocked.

"_Come in,"_ Tenma's cheerful voice said and Tsurugi slid the door open. When he walked inside, he gasped at the sight of his older brother accompanying the brunet. "N-Nii-san?!"

Yuuichi smiled at his younger brother. "Yo, Kyousuke. Nice timing you have, it's almost time for my rehab session,"

"Eh…" Tenma slightly pouted. But then he grinned brightly. "Good luck Yuuichi-san! Do your best!" he exclaimed. Yuuichi nodded at him and pushed his wheelchair to the entrance.

Kyousuke looked at his brother and they mentally exchanged a few words. The look in Yuuichi's eyes confirmed Kyousuke's assumption. His brother knew about Tenma's condition. Kyousuke pushed the door wider and Yuuichi nodded at him before he left.

The navy blue haired soccer player quickly walked into Tenma's room. He smiled at the brunet after he closed the door and sat in the empty chair. "You really gave us a shock yesterday, Tenma."

Tenma sighed and he stared at Kyousuke in the eye. The brunet's mouth was slightly pressed together. Kyousuke tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

"Can we not talk about yesterday?"

Kyousuke blinked. "Why?"

"Because I don't remember yesterday at all!" Tenma exclaimed and buried his face into his pillow. "I don't remember anything from yesterday!" he shouted into his pillow. "First Aki-nee said I fainted, Taiyou said he had no idea what happened; Yuuichi-san said that Gouenji-san told him that I was acting weird! And then Fuyuka-san refused to say why I'm still hospitalized!" the brunet grunted. He lifted up his face to see Kyousuke holding in his laughter. "H-Hey! That was not funny!"

Kyousuke shook his head and chuckled a little. "You're right, it's not funny. It's hilarious to see you whining," he added with a smirk.

"TSU-RU-GI!" Tenma shouted in a whiny voice. He threw the pillow at Kyousuke, who caught it without even flinching. "Mou…" Tenma rolled over and covered his face with his blanket. "I just want to play soccer with everyone soon!" he said.

"Dear me, I feel so sorry for Nii-san and Amemiya, who had to keep up with your constant whining all day," Kyousuke mocked. He pushed the pillow onto Tenma's head.

Tenma started to shout gibberish at Kyousuke. The other teen only laughed and teased him more. "Seriously, Tenma. I've never seen you whine before,"

"I'm whining because I couldn't play soccer all daaaay!" Tenma blew away some bangs from his face. "Wait a second; aren't you supposed to be practicing with the team right now?" the brunet turned his head and stared at Kyousuke – as if challenging him to say that he skipped practice.

Kyousuke crossed his arms and looked away. "E-Everyone was really worried about you… So Coach Endou sent me to visit you,"

"Really…?" Tenma's voice somehow sounded disappointed. "So if Coach Endou didn't tell you to visit me, you won't?"

That caught Kyousuke off guard. But he turned his head towards Tenma again, this time practically glaring at the brunet. "Why would you say that?! Of course I'd come visit, you're my best friend!"

It was silent for a few moments before Kyousuke finally realized what he had just said. Slowly his face turned red from embarrassment, mostly from the fact that he had actually shouted it. The teen covered his mouth and mentally cursed his self.

Tenma, at first, was too dazed to even respond. But then when his brain finally caught on, his face brightened up like the Sun. His eyes sparkled and a few tears of joys appeared. "Tsurugi…" Ignoring whatever warning Fuyuka or Aki or the doctor had gave him, the brunet lunged out of his bed and hugged Kyousuke.

"You finally said it! You finally admitted that I'm your best friend!" he shouted in the most joyous manner ever.

"O-Oi Tenma! Get off me!" Kyousuke tried pushing the brunet away. He stood up and tried to get the other teen on the bed. "You're supposed to be in bed!"

"No!" Tenma said and tightened his grip around Kyousuke's neck. "I promised to myself that I would hug you once you admitted that I'm your best friend! And I won't let go until you hug back!" the brunet said with determination. Kyousuke gasped at this. He gritted his teeth before sighing. Slowly, Kyousuke returned Tenma's hug. The brunet laughed and he let go. He grinned at Kyousuke, who looked away out of embarrassment again.

"Che, I swear you make a good blackmailer,"

"Hehe~" Tenma sat on his bed and patted the spot next to him. Kyousuke looked at him. He hesitantly sat down next to the brunet.

"Stop being so stubborn, Tsurugi~"

"You're the stubborn one!" Kyousuke exclaimed. He grabbed Tenma in a headlock and ruffled the brunet's hair with a smirk.

"ACK! Stop that!" Tenma tried to push himself out of Kyousuke's grasps. "You ruined my hair!" he whined again.

"You deserved it," Tsurugi smiled and let Tenma go. The brunet pouted at him before digging into his covers. Tenma placed his head on his pillow and looked away. "I don't want to talk to you ever again!" the brunet exclaimed. Kyousuke smiled at Tenma's childish antics.

_Yeah right._

"Well, if Tenma doesn't want to talk to me, then I guess I'll take my leave then," Kyousuke threatened and slowly lifted himself up. But before he could stand on his two feet again, something grabbed his wrist. Kyousuke looked down and then at Tenma – who was on the verge of tears. The brunet was pouting like a five year old. The navy blue haired teen chuckled and sat down again.

"Hey Tsurugi…" Tenma started. He lowered his head a little.

"Hm?" Kyousuke replied. He was a little surprised at Tenma's sudden mood change.

"I'll be okay, right…? I'll be able to play soccer with you again soon, right…?" Tenma's voice was so sad and teary; it broke Kyousuke's heart a little – seeing the brunet all weak like this. He smiled and inched himself closer to the brunet. Kyousuke wrapped an arm around Tenma's shoulder as he himself lied down on the bed next to Tenma. He turned his head to side – his smile not going away.

"Of course, everything will work out, right?"

Tenma smiled happily at this. He laughed and nodded his head with a grin.

"Yeah!"


	3. There's Nothing To Worry About!

I am so honoured to get so many reviews! I'm really super grateful to all of you that has reviewed, favourited and followed! It makes me so happy! Which is, in my opinion, contradicting the elements of my story here... Then again, not all is what it seems like, right?

As you probably have noticed by now, the chapters are according to days. Chapter 1 is day 1, the start of Raimon's problem. Chapter 2 is the second day, in which Tsurugi visits Tenma. Chapter 3 is right below, which is the third day ever since Tenma had to be sent to the hospital. Thought I might write it here just in case some of you didn't notice!

* * *

**Phantom**

**Chapter 3**

**There's Nothing To Be Worried About!**

Coach Endou watched as the Raimon team practiced with much less enthusiasm than usual. His worried expression only worsened everybody's mood. Today was the third day ever since the incident. Coach Endou closed his eyes and sighed.

_Flashback_

_Endou gathered all of the adults together in a corner. His lips were pressed together – sealed, as another word would describe it._

_Kidou, Gouenji, Fuyuka, Aki and Haruna were waiting for him to say something. All of them looked anxious._

_The brunet forced a painful smile. "Don't you guys think this situation is familiar…?" his gaze landed on Fuyuka. "Well, not really familiar for Fuyuppe – but still…"_

_The nurse had her eyebrows raised. What was Mamoru-kun talking about, she wasn't sure. But she was sure that the others knew so she decided to keep quiet –sometimes stealing glances at the Raimon team who were out of earshot._

_Kidou suddenly gasped after a moment of silence. "Endou… You're not possibly thinking…" he stared at Endou's face – shocked._

_Endou nodded his head solemnly. Gouenji's fist tightened. Haruna looked away. Aki covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes watered. "No way…" she started, "Tenma…"_

_End of Flashback_

His eyes slowly opened. He told Natsumi about this and she too believed that whatever was happening to Tenma – it had happened to the Raimon of ten years ago.

To be honest, when he had told the team to never leave Tenma's side, it wasn't actually an order from the doctor. It was a direct order from the coach himself. He thought it might be better this way – especially after Aki's phone call.

"_The doctor said he's fine but he needs to stay in the hospital for another day just to make sure," her voice sounded teary._

"… _Is he, you know…?" the worry in his voice never faded._

"_I asked Fuyuka-san, she said Tenma spaces out sometimes but recovers quickly after that…" she explained._

"…" _he was silent._

"_Endou-kun…?" she wondered._

"_I knew it…" he said to himself._

Haruna, who was sitting on the benches, wasn't very much of a difference from the coach. She was observing the team of course, but she flinched every time one of them tripped or crashed into each other.

The managers didn't let this go unnoticed. The club's advisor and the coach weren't really themselves today. The three girls exchanged looks. They shrugged soon after. Somehow they had this same gut feeling that they'd know whatever that has been bothering the two adults soon enough. A sudden shout surprised everyone.

"EVERYONE…! I'M BACK…!" a very cheerful first year student shouted from atop of the staircase. He was waving his arms and jumping up and down with the most joyful grin anybody has ever seen. A dark figure appeared behind the brunet – only a few steps away. "T-Tenma, be careful!" the dark figure warned. But he was too late as Tenma ran down the steep hill without even using the stairs. He looked so excited – and just as everyone had predicted, Tenma lost his balance. "A-AH!" and he rolled down the hill.

"TENMA!" everybody shouted – even Tsurugi, who was running down the stairs to the brunet. The navy blue haired teen arrived first since he was technically the closest one in distance to Tenma. His eyes scanned the brunet for any sign of injury. Tsurugi sighed and shook his head. He fell to the ground next to Tenma. "Thank goodness, you're okay…"

"Tenma, that was reckless," Kirino advised in a worried tone as he knelt next to the first year. Tenma just sheepishly grinned back. He was about to get up when a small figure hugged him.

"TENMA! WE WERE SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" Shinsuke shouted with tears in his eyes. His grip around Tenma tightened. Tenma gasped. He smiled and patted Shinsuke's head. "Shinsuke…"

The little defender looked up and saw Tenma's smiling face. "Tenma…"

The brunet snickered. "There's nothing to worry about! I'm really fine! See?" Tenma lifted Shinsuke and started to spin them around at high speed. He laughed when Shinsuke did too.

"T-Tenma, I think you should stop before you," Shindou started but he paused when he saw Tenma lose his balance yet again and fall, this time with Shinsuke. He sweat dropped, "fall," he shook his head and smiled. Shindou held out both of his hands for the two juniors – who took the offer gratefully.

"So this means you can practice with us now, right?" Hamano asked with his arms crossed behind his back and a grin. Tenma and Shinsuke looked at each other before turning to Hamano again. The brunet smiled. He was about to say something when Coach Endou placed his hand on Tenma's shoulder. Tenma turned his head around and immediately stood up straight. "C-Coach Endou!"

The adult smiled and retrieved his hand. He then scanned his surroundings, looking at everybody's faces. "Sorry everybody, but Tenma can't play soccer for a few days," he said and crossed his arms. A sad smile was seen on his face.

All of them gasped – except for Tenma and Tsurugi. The brunet had the same sad smile Coach Endou had while Tsurugi only had a blank face. "But why?" Shindou did not know how many times he has asked that question by now. Ten times, maybe? He didn't really kept count. But he knew it was a lot.

"Because the doctor said I still need some rest before I can really play again… A little dribbling should be fine though," Tenma said with a cheeky smile. Everyone looked at him with surprised faces. Tenma noticed the looks they were giving him. "Mou, you guys shouldn't be this worried about me! There's really nothing to worry about! I just fainted the other day, right?! Nothing horrible is going to happen to me!" he tried to lighten up the atmosphere with his famous grin.

It was silent for a while. Tenma's efforts didn't really work. Instead, his words seemed to catch the Raimon team off guard. "_Just_ fainted? Tenma, you're not serious, are you?" Kurama stepped forward. Tenma blinked at him. His grin quickly faded into a nervous smile. The brunet started to scratch his cheek. "Um… Well… About that…"

"He doesn't remember anything that happened to him," Tsurugi answered for the brunet in a monotone voice. His hands were in his pants' pockets and his eyes were staring at Tenma – as if daring Tenma to do something.

Kurama and the others gasped. Their mouths were agape at what Tsurugi had just said. "What?!" the second year forward turned to look at Tenma again. "You don't remember what happened to you?!"

Tenma pressed his lips together and closed his eyes. He shook his head. "I don't remember anything from that day at all…" he opened his blue orbs again. "I only remember waking up for school and that's it," he explained his memory loss again – this time to his teammates.

Suddenly a hand grabbed Tenma from behind and turned him around. Tenma gasped at the sight of a really furious childhood friend. "A-Aoi…?" he managed to say, despite his fear.

"You really don't remember?" she asked in a slightly panicked tone. "You _really_ don't remember? You don't remember what you told me that day? You _don't_ remember all of that?!" Aoi shook Tenma by the shoulders. The brunet was dumbfounded at the girl's words. They stared at each other for a long time. Everybody else was shocked at Aoi's outburst, of course. More or less, Tenma held her hands which were on his shoulders and smiled at her. "Aoi…" his eyes watered. He was really touched at how much his childhood friend cared for him. Whatever he had said, it must have worried her. But right now, he didn't want any of them to worry. "Everything will work out, okay?" he smiled and patted the girl's shoulders. Aoi just stared back at him without giving any reaction. She was still worried about him – no matter what he said to her.

* * *

"Stand! Bow!" the head monitor exclaimed once the teacher came in. All of the other students did exactly as they were told. After they bowed they sat back down again. The lesson started. It was just another normal day. But even under this calm atmosphere, Aoi couldn't help but steal glances at Tenma – who was so focused on the current lesson. Once in a while, Tenma would catch her staring and he'd grin wholeheartedly at her while mouthing 'It's okay!~'.

Why did she find that so hard to believe?

* * *

After a couple of hours, lunch came and was Kariya ever so glad. He quickly stood up from his seat after he cleared his desk and walked up to Tenma. The brunet wasn't even finished packing when Kariya pulled Tenma out of the classroom without any hesitation. The defender just dragged the midfielder despite his protests and Shinsuke had no choice but to follow them. He was smiling though. Both of them were thinking about Coach's orders actually. So before Tenma ran off, it was probably best to drag him with them.

But due to that, they had forgotten about Aoi in all the hurry. The girl didn't really mind. In fact, she was giggling at how flustered Tenma looked like being dragged like that. His words of protest rang in her mind and she laughed again.

She glanced at Tenma's messy table as she stood up. Might as well clear it up for him, she thought. She took a step closer but then her feet stopped moving when she saw Tenma's notebook. Her eyes widened at the words she was reading – at the words Tenma had been writing in class.

_Death _

_Who is Death_

_Who is dead?_

_Phantom_

_Where is Phantom_

_Where is the phantom?_

The words were so simple – yet they managed to send shivers down Aoi's spine. Aoi's fists gripped together as she asked herself the questions Tenma had written. The girl gulped and quickly shoved all of Tenma's stuff into his bag. Aoi could feel the fear enveloping her – the fear of the unknown; the fear of not knowing what; the fear of not knowing when. She quickly ran out. She had no answers for the questions. She had no answer at all.

* * *

"Kariya! Stop dragging me!" Tenma demanded. He had tried to wriggle his wrist out of Kariya's firm grasp but failed. "Not until we reach the cafeteria!" the defender replied as he walked faster, his grip on Tenma's wrist didn't falter one bit and neither did his confidence. "But-" Tenma started – though he was cut off.

"Kariya? Tenma?" Kirino called them from a corner of a hallway. The pink haired senior walked closer to the trio of first years. His eyes were wide with worry. "What's wrong? Why are you guys shouting?"

Kariya rolled his eyes but he made sure that it was only obvious to his senior. Tenma, with teary eyes, pointed at his wrist and said, "Kariya's dragging me to the cafeteria, and he won't let go!"

"Yep!" Shinsuke approved with a grin. He jumped a little to attract Kirino's attention due to his short height. "I guess you can say we're in a hurry!"

Kirino crossed his arms together and smiled. "Is that really necessary, Kariya?" he asked the other defender in a joking tone. Kariya flinched and turned his head away. He pouted a little. "Che," at that, he let go of Tenma's wrist. The brunet quickly rubbed it with the thumb of his other hand. "Thank you, Kirino-senpai,"

"Well, I guess you don't want the cafeteria's limited supply of yakisoba bread then," Kariya crossed his arms behind his head and started to walk away – with a visible pout on his face. Tenma and Shinsuke's faces turned into surprise at Kariya's remark. "T-THEY'RE HAVING THOSE TODAY?!" Shinsuke shouted.

"Duh," the defender replied, almost as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. All of a sudden, Kariya felt like he was tied to the back of a jet as Tenma dragged him to the cafeteria. His eyes were wide and his jaw dropped. "T-TENMA-KUN, S-SLOW DOWN!" he begged but to no avail. The brunet was running at the speed of light for the really, really deliciously yummy yakisoba bread the cafeteria had. Shinsuke tailed the duo, though he was being left behind pretty quickly.

Kirino could only sweat drop. He stood there, not really having an interest in the yakisoba bread. He honestly never understood why that typical type of bread was really popular. He could also never understand what being dragged away by Tenma felt like. He wouldn't want to know either way. The defender felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to see a half-smiling Shindou. "What was that about?" the brunet asked his best friend. No doubt he bore witness to everything and wanted to know more. The pink haired defender chuckled. "A rush for yakisoba bread," Kirino replied simply. Shindou himself chuckled. "So I see…"

The two of them were in the middle of walking to the cafeteria, when a panicked Aoi crashed into Shindou. "Sorano-san?" Shindou's quick reflex managed to catch her before she fell. "What's the matter? You look like you're being chased," he asked with much worry in his voice. Kirino stared at Aoi's panicked eyes and noted her unsteady breath. "Did something bad happen?" the defender asked the first year manager. Aoi quickly shook her head. "I… I just… I need to see Coach Endou," she said. The seniors' furrowed their eyebrows. "It's about Tenma, isn't it?" Shindou asked. Aoi slowly nodded. "What did he do?" Kirino didn't realize he had his fists balled up.

* * *

Coach Endou's face was in a grimace as he read the notebook that was owned by Tenma. The other three watched as his brown eyes scanned the notebook inside and out. And then they watched him sigh. "Just as I thought…" he said to himself, confusing his students. "Coach, what do you mean?" Shindou took a step backward as Coach Endou stood up from his seat and walked towards his telephone situated on the other end of the table. The adult forced a laugh as he flipped his phone open. "Oh, it's nothing. The three of you are dismissed; lunch is ending soon, right?" he shooed them away.

"But Coach-" Aoi started. The adult cut her off.

"I just need you to keep a closer eye on him, report to me every time he does something weird and spread word to the others if you have to. This is an order, got it?" Coach Endou's eyes were still on the telephone screen, his fingers typing something to somebody. He then turned his attention towards the three again. He smiled. "You're doing a great job so far. Thanks to the three of you, I was able to confirm a few things regarding Tenma,"

Those were his last words before the bell rang and they had to return to their respective classes, despite being bothered by his response.

* * *

"Ah, Aoi, there you are!" Tenma greeted Aoi when she entered the classroom. The girl flinched at the sudden call. The brunet came closer to her with a puzzled expression. "Have you seen my notebook? I left it on the table before Kariya dragged me out," he questioned. Aoi's eyes grew wide. She forgot to retrieve the book from Coach Endou. Quickly, she recomposed herself. "I-I don't know, maybe you misplaced it," she lied. She walked past him and sat on her chair, her head turned to the right instead of the left – where Tenma's place was at. The brunet blinked his eyes, still a little dazed, and he sighed. He started to ask his other classmates who had left after him if they had seen his notebook.

Kariya and Shinsuke approached Aoi, questions could be seen tied around their tongues. "We didn't see you in the cafeteria, did you eat somewhere else?" Kariya asked a tad bit concerned. Usually Aoi would sit and eat lunch with them. Today, he didn't even saw her shadow. Shinsuke nodded his approval. Aoi stared at her two friends. She ushered them to bend down closer and she whispered the story into their ears.

"HE WROTE WHAT?!" Kariya and Shinsuke shouted with much shock. Aoi shushed them, fearing the attention of others. Luckily Tenma was engrossed in a conversation with Hikaru from the class next door. Everybody else had their own business to attend to. The two boys quickly shut up. "So… what's _exactly_ happening to Tenma?" Kariya questioned, holding his chin. "What do you mean?" Aoi asked back with eyebrows up. "Well, obviously Coach Endou is hiding something from us… We just need to figure out what," he ended. Kariya's infamous evil grin decorated his face without him realizing.

"Kariya, you look scary," both Aoi and Shinsuke noted with sweat drops. Kariya ended up falling anime style.

* * *

During practice, Tenma couldn't do anything but watch them play from the benches. He was pouting, unsatisfied. He knew he was fine, very, very fine, and yet he was ordered to sit down and watch and rest and a lot of other stuff. Even Tsurugi and Shindou seemed to want him to do what the coach told him to do. Maybe it was for the best?

He watched as Tsurugi made goals and Shindou commanded the team efficiently. This was certainly new to him. Watching his teammates play from the sidelines, he realized he now temporarily shared the managers' point of view. As he watched Kirino defend the goal, something clicked in the back of his mind. An image flashed through his mind's eye. It was blurry; he couldn't see the faces of the two people in the image. All he saw were two people in ripped black cloaks. Tenma closed his eyes and shook his head. "What was that?" he quietly whispered to himself. It felt like it came from a dream… or maybe a memory? He tried to remember if there was something similar to the image but got nothing.

"Tenma," a voice came from his side and his eyes shot open. He saw Aoi looking at him with a worried stare. "Are you okay?" she continued. The brunet gave her a smile. "I'm fine. It was just a passing headache," he lied. He didn't really have any idea how to explain to her what his mind's eye just saw. Aoi nodded her head. "If it gets worse, tell me, okay?"

"Okay,"

It got worse.

* * *

Later that evening, as the Sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon, Tenma walked back home alone. The street was deserted. The only sounds he heard were the sounds of his footsteps.

Tenma's forehead creased as he slowed to a stop. He felt like… somebody was following him. It was like somebody was behind him. His head turned and he found nothing. There were no places for anybody to hide. He shrugged and continued on his journey again. But the feeling didn't disappear. Instead, it grew stronger.

He abruptly stopped when an image flew across his mind without warning. It was the same image from before but clearer. The faces were barely visible and Tenma caught sight of light pink and teal hair. His eyes widened. Light pink and teal? Weren't those the colours of Kirino-senpai and Kariya's hair? Does this mean the two people in the image he just saw were them? The brunet scratched the back of his head as he chuckled. "That's impossible…! Why would they be wearing black cloaks in the first place?!" he said to himself.

As he laughed, a clear image passed through his mind's eye. He saw Shindou, glaring at him with so much hate. Tenma absentmindedly flinched and his laughter died. His hand gripped his bag tighter. He wasn't expecting _that_. Shindou would never hate him. Where did the image come from anyway? It couldn't be a memory right? Maybe it was just his imagination.

Just as he thought that, more images came into view. Tsurugi wearing an eye-mask and a black cloak much like the one Kirino-senpai and Kariya had been wearing. Shinsuke staring at him, wearing the same attire Tsurugi donned. An image of Hamano-senpai laughing at him, soccer ball under one foot. Hikaru and Kurama suddenly were stopping him in his tracks; both of them staring deep into his eyes blankly.

He remembered the sensation of running through an unknown forest. He recalled the sensation of fear and caution. And he felt it right now, as his body trembled and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. His pupils were dilated as he stared into what seemed like nothingness. But inside his mind, only God knows what he's seeing. Both of his hands gripped his bag. "No…" he whispered. "T-They wouldn't do that… all of that never happened…" he tried to reassure himself. He was sure these images came from his wild imagination. But even his imagination wasn't _this_ wild. And if he really did make these up, why did it felt so real? Why did it felt like he had gone through all of that?

"_Kill him, if all else fails,"_

His breath hitched as he remembered those words that were ordered by Shindou. He felt vulnerable and insecure. "That's not… real… He never… told anybody… to kill me…" he pursed his lips. Doubt clouded his mind. What if it really did happen? Tenma closed his eyes and a sharp pain shot through his head. He gritted his teeth and whimpered in pain. His hand was brought up to his head. He still stood with his belief, even when his eyes started to blackened. The brunet dropped to his knees. He rolled onto his side from unbearable pain. Tenma's body flinched. He felt himself dropping into unconsciousness. And all the while, there had only been one thing in his mind.

_It never happened._

* * *

Endou was terribly tired. When he arrived home a little after eight, he expected to see Natsumi happily greeting him. Instead, he found a frowning wife holding the house's telephone. "Endou-kun, it's for you," she said quickly as the man took off his shoes. Endou asked, "Who is it?" before taking the phone out of his wife's hands.

"Aki," was all she had to say.

"Hello?" the man said into the receiver. _"Endou-kun!"_ Aki replied. The brunet could hear the panic in her voice. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" Endou tried to ask as calmly as he could but he had a bad feeling. Something bad must have happened if Aki was behaving like this. _"It's Tenma-kun! He's not back yet and I called his cell phone but he won't answer! Oh, I'm so worried!"_

Endou momentarily stopped breathing. He frowned. Natsumi could only watch with hope. Her husband pressed his lips and he quickly wore his shoes again. "I'll get Kidou and Gouenji. You stay at home until he comes back. I'll call you later," he said before cutting the line off, not waiting for Aki's approval. He turned to Natsumi after placing the house's phone on the shoe drawer. "Can you go to Aki's place to comfort her? The guys and I will look for Tenma," he said to her. Natsumi quickly nodded and before her husband left she managed to say, "Make sure he comes back safe, okay?"

"I promise!" the man replied with confidence. Natsumi could see him dialling somebody's number on his own cell phone before disappearing around the corner. The woman sighed. Endou had told her what happened to Tenma and she could only hope… it wasn't too late. Natsumi disappeared into their bedroom to grab her purse and she too left the house to go to Aki's. Hopefully the other woman hadn't broken down crying yet. Natsumi hated seeing the other cry. The first time she had to comfort a sobbing Aki was ten years ago, when the same thing happened to…

No, she didn't want to remember that. Natsumi absolutely did not want to remind herself of Raimon's dark days.


	4. Another Day Lost

This is a really late update from the usual hour! I'm so sorry, something came up at work and I had to go home really late. This was the only thing I could write in the short time I had left.

To answer some questions, I'm not particularly sure if the others from the other teams will appear or not! But characters like Yukimura and Kishibe have a higher chance of appearing, even if it's just one scene.

Some of you are wondering if I referred to the Aliea Academy incident in the last chapter. I'm not, I'm referring to an event that happened in this story only so it's not canon!

I'm really happy for all the reviews everyone! Thank you so much! Nothing can express my gratefulness!

* * *

**Phantom**

**Chapter 4**

**Another Day Lost**

"Tenma! Where are you?!" Endou crossed the bridge over the river. He climbed up the railings, shouting Tenma's name over and over again. He gritted his teeth. Tenma wasn't at the riverbank. Moments earlier, Gouenji and Kidou had replied that they will be looking for him too. Gouenji decided to use his car to drive around town in search of the midfielder—and maybe even possibly, out of town, just in case. Kidou and Endou agreed to look for Tenma on foot. And here he was, still no signs on Tenma's whereabouts.

His phone rang and he quickly answered. "Any luck?" he asked, knowing from a glance earlier that it was a call from Kidou. _"He's not at the Steel Plaza,"_ was his simple reply. Endou slammed his fist against the railing. "Damn it! He's not at the riverbank either," Endou's brown eyes scanned the soccer field next to the river just in case he missed something. _"Has Gouenji contacted yet?"_ Kidou asked. He sounded almost equally agitated as Endou was. "No but I called Fuyuppe. He wasn't in the hospital but if she does see him she'll tell us immediately," the brunet stepped off the railing.

"_Then we better keep looking. Who knows what might—or could—have happened to him in this darkness,"_ Kidou cut off the line after hearing Endou's approval. Endou lifted his eyes up, staring into the night sky. He would be admiring its shining beauty but in this condition he didn't even want to consider it. The man turned on his heels and began running again, worry, agitation and frustration building up inside of him.

* * *

"What do you mean, 'Tenma's missing'?" Shindou's eyes narrowed. He clutched his cell phone in his fist.

"_I mean exactly that. I was returning from the convenience store when I saw Coach Endou shouting Tenma's name,"_ Sangoku on the other end replied. It had been an once-in-a-lifetime sight to see their coach so worried and frustrated at the same time. "When was that?" Shindou stood up from his seat, abandoning his homework. Creases formed on his forehead as he walked down the steps of his mansion.

"Just about five minutes ago, I think," the senior replied. "What should we do, Shindou? Something bad might have happened to him," Sangoku stopped his bicycle by the sidewalk. A car passed him, oblivious to his building anxiety. He wasn't keen of the idea of a hurt Tenma at all. The other line was silent for a couple of seconds. Sangoku heard the slam of a door and his eyes widened. "Shindou?"

"_We're going to find him,"_

* * *

Soon, Shindou and Sangoku managed to round up a number of their other teammates. They couldn't inform everybody, chaos could ensue. But when Kirino called Kariya, the first year defender claimed that he was already on the lookout for Tenma. Hiroto and Midorikawa had been called by Endou not long before. The two of them—along with Kariya—rode Hiroto's car, keeping their eyes open for any signs of the missing brunet.

Sangoku cycled his way through town, Kurumada on the backseat. Shindou and Kirino went to check Raimon Jr. High. They made sure not to tell the other first year students and the managers about this. Shindou decided to only tell them if the situation got worse. And currently, he was hoping it wouldn't come to that.

The captain of the soccer club and the ace defender of Raimon came across Gouenji parking his car when they reached the school. The adult was of course shocked to see them out so late but after a few hassles he approved of their help and the three of them started to search around the school. Endou and Kidou found out about this soon after and were torn between feeling shocked or relieved to know they had more help. They both settled on the latter. The minutes ticked by and the places available to search were beginning to wither down. They were reaching a dead end, all of them almost losing hope.

"What do we do now?" Shindou's breathe was uneven. The group stood under the safe light of a streetlamp. Kirino leaned against the lamp post. His clothes were a little dirty. Endou was clenching his fists. Kidou watched him with worry. His phone vibrated and he answered it without a second glance. It was Sangoku.

"_We found him! We found him, Kidou-san!_"

* * *

They gathered in Tenma's room, with the brunet on his bed. Tenma didn't stir at all ever since they found him. The only thing that moved was his chest to indicate he was still alive and breathing—if it weren't for that all of them would have actually believed he was dead. Aki was in her own room, Natsumi trying to comfort her in the best way she could. The woman saw Tenma as a little brother and it really shocked her to see him going through all of this.

As the silent began to become unbearable, Kariya shifted and coughed. He caught the attention of the others in the room and turned his head to stare at the coach of Raimon Junior High's soccer club. "You're hiding something from us," he went straight to the point; there was no need for sugar coating. Hiroto gasped at his rudeness. "Kariya…!" he held the teen's shoulder. "What?" the defender frowned. "I'm only stating the truth. Coach Endou is obviously not telling us something. You're probably in on it too," he narrowed his eyes and Hiroto flinched at the intensity of his stare.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Kariya's right. Again." Kirino said, turning to face Shindou. The brunet nodded and he asked the coach, "If there is anything you're hiding from us Coach, please share it. We know you know something that we don't. What's happening to Tenma?" his tone of voice was firm. Sangoku and Kurumada—who were more or less clueless—were pretty surprised at the sudden change of atmosphere.

Endou placed his hand on Tenma's forehead, moving away some hair from his face. He was silent as his hand moved to his own shoulder, resting on it. Gouenji flinched at the action and quickly looked away. Kidou furrowed his eyebrows. "It's not just happening to Tenma…" the man answered on behalf of his best friend. All of the teenagers' eyes went to him. Shindou shared the same look Kidou did. "What do you mean?"

"It's a test," Endou's voice somewhat echoed painfully throughout the room. It was raspy and dry. "It's a test for all of you. To see how much you care for him. To see how strong the bond you share is,"

Gouenji abruptly stood from his seat and left the room. "Gouenji!" Kidou followed after him, worry in his voice. The door banged as he closed it behind him, leaving the baffled and confused teenagers behind.

* * *

He already unlocked the car by the time Kidou caught up to him. "Gouenji!" his voice sounded more demanding. The flame striker stopped moving. "You know it wasn't your fault," Kidou started, knowing exactly why Gouenji ran out. The tanned man gritted his teeth. "I know it's not my fault. But it's _my _fault Endou was hurt that day,"

"_No it wasn't_. How many times do I have to tell you that you weren't the one who did that? It wasn't your doing, Gouenji," Kidou pressed on. "You know exactly what happened ten years ago. None of us foresaw it and even if we did, we weren't capable of doing anything. Don't blame it all on yourself,"

"That's easy for you to say!" Gouenji turned around, a flame in his eyes as he glared at Kidou. "You weren't the one who was…" his raised voice dropped to a whisper. Gouenji stared at the ground and his feet, the guilt of the things he had done weighing on him much more now. Kidou stared at his best friend, the man who wouldn't stop blaming himself for all the things that had happened after all these years. "What are you planning to do? Turn a blind eye to the things happening right now because you don't want to see it happening? Are you going to let history repeat itself?" his words were harsh, Kidou knew that, but the truth is always harsh and cruel. He couldn't fight this fight alone. He knew they were going to need all the help they could get to save Tenma and the others. "It's not too late, Gouenji. These are only the first signs. We can still find a way to set things right,"

Gouenji was silent. He was letting Kidou's words sink in. But his stubbornness made him climb into his car and drive into the night, leaving Kidou without an answer.

* * *

He started the engine after they paid their goodbyes and Kariya wore his seatbelt. Hiroto drove, Midorikawa sat beside him. Kariya started to feel nauseated by the silence. He stared at Hiroto's face from the backseat before finally speaking. "What did Coach Endou mean by 'a test'?"

Midorikawa gasped but didn't say a word. Hiroto's hold on the steering wheel tightened. His eyes narrowed. "Ten years ago… a curse befell the Raimon soccer team," he started. Midorikawa turned his head to Hiroto with wide eyes, silently asking the CEO why he was telling Kariya the story. The redhead merely nodded back and Midorikawa sighed. "They thought the curse was lifted," Hiroto continued. "But apparently, it wasn't," Midorikawa ended in a pained voice. Kariya felt like he was being kid with. But the tension in the air said otherwise. "What was the curse?" he asked but got silence in return.

After Hiroto and Midorikawa dropped him back in Sun Garden; Kariya didn't immediately go to bed. He snuck out again. There was a big tree with a sturdy branch right beside his room's window. His roommate was the type who slept like a log so he easily climbed out. Kariya gracefully landed on his two feet like a cat. He was eager to get answers. And the answers probably lay in the old soccer clubroom in Raimon Junior High.

Kariya got in easily; climbing the school fences was no ordeal. It was how to get into the old soccer clubroom that was the problem. The door was locked and sealed. Breaking the window was no option—probably a last resort if he was really desperate. He tried to look around the clubroom from the inside through the window with the help of the moonlight but he didn't see much. Kariya sighed. "Che. This was useless," he said to himself. He climbed down the stepping and went home with a new determination—to find out about the curse of Raimon's soccer club.

Shindou, Kirino, Sangoku and Kurumada had to leave reluctantly. Endou wouldn't answer them at all and Natsumi advised them to go home for the night. When Endou finally decided to leave as well, Natsumi said she'd stay with Aki until the woman was feeling better. Endou smiled softly and nodded his head. He didn't object. Moreover, he thought it would probably be best for Aki to have some comfort.

* * *

Endou shrugged off his jacket after he removed his shoes, feeling somewhat awkward to not have Natsumi greet him. The lights turned on and he immediately went to his bedroom. A good night's sleep sounded much better now. He jumped into his bed without changing out of his day clothes.

"_Endou…! Hold it together!"_

"_Are you sure you're alright, Endou?"_

"_You're despicable."_

"_Die already you worthless scum!"_

He woke up in cold sweat, his screams stuck in his throat. Endou unconsciously held his shoulder again as he tried to catch his breath. "A nightmare huh…?" he muttered to himself. He took off his jacket and shirt after realizing it was almost 3AM. For a split second he took notice of the two long scars on his shoulder in the mirror but quickly looked away. That night, Endou wished Natsumi had come home with him.

* * *

Aki opened the door, a tray of food in her hands. Tenma was still asleep in his bed, the covers right under his chin. His breathing was steady and his face looked calm. Aki sadly smiled at him and placed the tray on his study. It was early morning and the brunet still hadn't shown any signs of waking up.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Natsumi asked from the door. Aki turned to smile at her. "Yes, I will. Thank you," she reassured the other woman. Kogure sneaked in his head from behind Natsumi. He looked worried as well. "I'll come back early today, okay!" he said before he rushed away. Aki giggled a little, knowing that it was Kogure's way of saying he cared. Natsumi seemed amused too before she finally excused herself, even if reluctantly.

Noon came and Aki was wringing a wet cloth to place on his forehead, when he finally showed signs of life—other than breathing. Tenma moaned as he tried to sit up but fell back down almost immediately. He held his head and opened his eyes. Aki had never been so relieved in her life. She hugged him tightly, a grin etched on her face. "Tenma, you're awake!" she exclaimed gleefully.

But her joy was cut short when Tenma did nothing as a response. "Tenma…?" she called him, retreating from the hug. The brunet was still silent. His eyes stared at the ceiling above him, dilated. His hand that held his head trembled. Aki stared at him, now even more worried than when he was asleep.

Tenma drew in a gasp and he screamed.

* * *

In school, everybody were surprised to see that Tenma was absent, mainly Tsurugi and Aoi. Kariya was indifferent and so were the rest of the members who had helped with last night. Endou and the rest of them decided to keep the incident a secret for the mean time, to prevent panic among them. As lunch came by, Kariya excused himself from the table they were sitting at and didn't even give his friends a second glance. Hikaru wondered what's wrong with him but Aoi and Shinsuke claimed they knew nothing.

The defender was sneaky. He knew the members of the student council would be out and the door would be unlocked—a careless mistake for them, a helpful benefit for him. Kariya went in when nobody was looking and decided it would be best if he locked the door behind him.

"It's time to get down to business," he smirked to himself as he pulled out all the soccer club records he could find from ten years ago.

* * *

Endou couldn't eat at all. He was in his quarters, thinking about Tenma's condition. He bought a bun just in case he felt hungry but turned out he did lost his appetite. And then Gouenji's behaviour from last night worried him too. He knew he had to say something to him back then but he couldn't think of anything. It was troublesome.

The man wiped his face with his hands and sighed. "Why is this happening again…?"

* * *

He started to panic a little, not because lunch was ending but because he couldn't find _anything_ that could let him know more about this 'curse'. Kariya sighed tiredly as he slid down to the floor after placing the last folder into the shelf again, making sure it looked exactly the way he had found them. "This is useless," he said and knocked his head against the shelf once.

A book fell from the top shelf and it hit his head. Kariya yelped at both of the pain applied on his skull and picked up the book. He flipped it open, briefing through the pages while wondering what this book was about. "It looks like some form of diary…" he muttered and closed the book with another sigh. He was getting nowhere.

Something on the cover of the book caught his attention. He moved his fingers away since they were blocking his view of some writing and gasped. 'Otonashi Haruna' was written nicely on it as the owner of said diary.

* * *

He studied the book before showing it to the seniors—and the seniors being Kirino and Shindou. The two of them gave him suspicious looks as he tried to explain how he got the book. He said he bumped into a shelf and the book dropped but he didn't say from what shelf in what room. Kariya pointed out that Haruna had written a report about the soccer team every single day except for seven days in a row. Further inspection of the dates, Kariya also realized that this one 'absent' week of reports were in the middle of the three month period in between the Aliea Academy fiasco—he heard a lot of stories from Hiroto and the rest—and the start of the first FFI.

It was strange, Kirino and Shindou agreed. Why the sudden lack of reports from the manager? They'd like to ask her directly but something tells them she won't say anything about it. Or maybe give an excuse.

"Either way, it would probably be best if we looked for more clues," Shindou said, handing Kariya the book. "And find out more about the curse," Kirino added with a nod. Kariya didn't object at all.


	5. I'm Scared

I'm really sorry for another late update! We had a family day today and I was really tired. Please, have a good time reading! Thank you for all the support so far everyone!

* * *

**Phantom**

**Chapter 5**

**I'm Scared**

He was hugging her tightly—to the point Aki thought she'd break in half. Tenma buried his face into her chest, his body trembled and he cried. Without even looking, Aki knew that Tenma was now a teary mess. She tried to soothe him by rubbing his back. "Sshh, it's going to be alright," she whispered into his ear as she rocked him back and forth. "I'm scared Aki-nee. I'm so scared," his voice sounded muffled against her chest. "They tried to kill me, all of them tried to kill me!" he bawled.

Aki would be lying if she said she was surprised. She knew exactly who 'they' were. She didn't know what to say to him. Deep inside her heart, she prayed everything would turn out okay.

* * *

To say he was reluctant to go to school the next day would be an understatement. He absolutely refused and tried all the reason existed to not go to school. But Aki knew better. No matter how terrified Tenma was, Raimon was still the safest place for him to be in this current state.

"Tenma, you're like a brother to me," she said, holding Tenma's chin. They were in the doorway—Tenma was in his school uniform, albeit he looked nervous and ready to sprint to the next town if he could. "I promise you, nothing will happen while you're there, okay? If you have any troubles you can go to Coach Endou, he'll help you," she smiled softly. "And Aoi-chan too,"

It seemed to calm Tenma a little bit, if the relaxed shoulders were any indication. He gripped his school bag and turned around. "I-I'm off!" he said as he disappeared around the corner and into the streets. Aki reluctantly closed the door.

* * *

Aoi was walking among the small crowd of Raimon Junior High students when she spotted Tenma a little bit off to the side. "Tenma!" She jogged towards him, waving as she did. The brunet's body tensed but relaxed after he realized it was Aoi's voice. "O-Oh, it's just you, Aoi…" he greeted her and his gaze turned to the side. "Are you feeling any better?" she asked with quirked eyebrows. "You weren't here yesterday," He laughed nervously. "Aki-nee made me come to school. If I could, I'd hide myself in my bed all day," Tenma scratched his cheek, still not looking at her in the eye.

The girl stared at him and she was about to ask about his behaviour when a surprised voice called them from behind. "Tenma?!" She turned around and saw Shindou with Kirino, both of them having shocked expressions on their faces. She looked at Tenma and noticed that his posture had frozen again—this time he didn't relax.

"Shindou-senpai, Kirino-senpai." Aoi bowed slightly. "Good morning," she greeted them though she was ignored as Shindou stalked towards Tenma with a somewhat crossed expression. "What are you doing here?!" he grabbed the brunet's wrist—much to Aoi and even Kirino's surprise. "After what happened that night, you're supposed to—" but he was cut off when Tenma jerked his hand away. "LET ME GO!" he screamed, for the first time finally looking up. There were baby tears in his eyes—there but barely noticeable. And if one examined them, they would see the flecks of fear swirling around in them.

The little fiasco attracted a few spectators, much to their embarrassment. Tenma's pupils dilated after he had realized what he had done. He ran away from them without a second glance.

* * *

Tsurugi first noticed something was wrong when he walked into the clubroom to change into his uniform for morning practice. For one, Tenma wasn't there. Two, Shindou, Kirino and Aoi were wearing solemn faces. And three, everybody else seemed to notice too.

"What happened?" he asked the closest soccer club member to him. Kariya shrugged his shoulder. "I don't know, I got here five minutes before you did," he explained. They both stared at each other and then nodded—silently agreeing that this was another thing about Tenma. Tsurugi sighed and closed his locker door. Practice wasn't the same without Tenma, even if the only thing he did was sit at the benches. "I'm going to look for him," he said.

Kariya gasped. "But what about practice? And morning classes?"

"Who cares?" _'when your best friend could be in trouble'_, Tsurugi wanted to add but since he was talking to Kariya, he decided against it.

* * *

He looked high and low, through and through. No clues of Tenma at all. He knew Tenma was at school, he saw the brunet dashing in from the main gates.

The teen checked the toilets, the rooftop, the soccer fields—he was nowhere. Tsurugi finally admitted defeat when he was caught by a teacher during third period and was forced to go back to class. He didn't know where else he could check anyway—Tenma wasn't even in his classroom when Tsurugi walked past it. "Where could he be?" Tsurugi whispered. He opened the door to his classroom and casually walked in like he owned the place. Silence befell the room. The teacher was a wimp—he didn't dare to scold Tsurugi for coming in late—especially not with that deadly purplish aura surrounding the teenager.

* * *

Endou didn't exactly know what to say or do when he found Tenma hiding under his desk that morning but remembering Aki's phone call from yesterday, he knew he couldn't force the teenager to attend morning classes. He did however manage to persuade Tenma into promising him to go to classes after lunch.

The brunet sat at the spare chair Endou had in the room with a mug of hot chocolate in his hands. He blew the heat away from it softly as he waited for the time to pass by. "S-Sorry for troubling you, Coach Endou," he apologized to the adult who was doing some paperwork on his desk. "This is nothing," Endou smiled. "The things you've been through are far worse," he tried to be careful with his words; just in case he said something he wasn't supposed to. Right now he knew one topic he had to avoid: the soccer team.

Tenma looked a little different, he noticed. He looked less energetic and more timid. He seemed to stutter in his speech too. _'The same effects huh,'_ Endou thought to himself. Even in the safety of the brunet's company, Tenma still looked uneasy and ready to bolt. "So, how are you feeling…?" he asked slowly, putting his pen down.

The teenager didn't look at him in the eye. He stared at the floor in silence. Endou quickly panicked, believing he shouldn't have asked. "A-Ah, it's okay if you don't want to answer!" the adult stood up. "I'm going to go to the nurse's office for your note to the teacher, okay? Don't go anywhere while I'm gone!" Endou quickly left the room after he nodded slowly.

Bringing the mug to his lips again for a drink, Tenma whispered to no one, "_Scared._"

"I'm scared and lonely."

* * *

Aoi in class was so worried she couldn't focus during lessons. She kept glancing at the empty table next to her, somehow wishing for a miracle that Tenma would suddenly appear in that chair and smile at her, like he usually did.

'_Tenma's smile…'_ she frowned. _'Tenma's smile lost its shine…'_ the pencil tapped against her desk in a slow and quiet rhythm. _'I wish I knew how to bring it back…'_ her eyes closed. She stood up and bowed like the rest of the class as the teacher left and another one came in.

Kariya wasn't sitting that close to Aoi but he caught glimpses of her sighing and staring at Tenma's seat. He himself was worried, to be honest. He heard from Kirino what happened earlier morning before they reached school and now his determination to know about this 'curse' went stronger.

He had tried to find out more on the Internet. He found a bunch of stories and old newspaper articles—he even had to scroll through one blog for a few posts about it—that had a somewhat similar story to theirs. Kariya printed out the ones he thought was important—all of them being newspaper articles. He recalled one article talking about how a whole soccer team disappeared and a few others about an increasing number of deaths among soccer team captains no matter the age.

One thing he was sure of, everything he had found out about this curse online had a relation to soccer.

* * *

A figure walked about Endou's room, a mug in his hand. He chuckled softly as he traced his finger over Endou's desk. Tenma started to laugh slowly, his eyes losing its light more and more as he did. He sat on the desk and crossed his legs. A voice spoke from nowhere that was not the brunet's, a crooked smile upon Tenma's lips as it said the following, "_Tenma trusts him too much. Tenma needs to learn that the only person Tenma can trust is Tenma_." It sounded like the voice of a ghost, a phantom—the voice of a hundred demons.

The voice laughed, Tenma's body shook as if he was laughing with it. His crooked smile didn't change nor did his wide eyes. The brunet snapped his fingers together and a hurricane of dark blue aura covered him before it exploded with a big burst in less than a second. "_That's much better._" The voice said. A large number of photographs were flying all around Tenma, floating slowly towards the ground.

"_This way Tenma will definitely come to me._"

The teenager's head rolled back and he moaned, feeling his head. Was he getting another headache? He closed his eyes when he stood up again. "Why was I… sitting on the desk…?" he asked himself when he realized his position. Tenma frowned when he saw the mess that used to be Endou's room. "What… happened…?" he was confused, very confused.

But his confusion died when he picked up one of the photographs lying on the ground. He gasped and dropped the now-cold mug of chocolate, spilling it all over the carpet. Tenma didn't hesitate to run through the door and away from Raimon Junior High—the fear clutching him was almost visible to the naked eye.

* * *

Endou regretted his decision of leaving Tenma alone immediately upon his return. His room was a mess, with photographs lying all around. The mug Tenma had used was on the carpet, a dark brown patch right next to it. The adult picked up one of the pictures and he immediately groaned.

He picked up all the photographs and didn't question why Tenma had run out. All of the photographs here were fake pictures of him turning a blind eye to the Raimon team bullying Tenma and fake pictures of himself hurting Tenma. Endou dropped into his chair and rubbed his temple.

"You won this round, _Phantom_."

* * *

Everyone was gathered in the clubroom after school, much to Kariya's appreciation. Tenma was the only one absent and he had to restrain Tsurugi from going on another hunt for the brunet, giving the excuse that he had something important to discuss with everyone today, with or without Tenma, and that Tsurugi would be very interested to hear it. The striker, eaten by curiosity, gave in.

Endou was a little bit later than usual—they noticed he looked frustrated when he walked in—and much to their surprise, Kidou and Gouenji walked into the room after him—looking just as frustrated.

"Coach Endou," Kariya walked up to the round table Endou was sitting at. His action caught everybody's attention, since he didn't exactly interacted with the coach a lot and they were curious. "Yes?" the adult looked up.

A thick folder landed on the table in front of Endou, Kariya being the one who threw it there. His golden eyes narrowed at Endou's confused face. "Please explain to me all of this. Or better yet, please explain _everything_ to the team, _Coach Endou_." His tone sounded threatening.

Most of the other teenagers gasped at Kariya's hostility. Kirino would probably be scolding Kariya right now if he didn't know what Kariya's true intention was.

The brunet, along with the two other adults, skimmed through the folder Kariya had prepared. Their faces fell and Haruna, who was standing not far, could tell they weren't amused.

Endou forced out a chuckle. He looked at Kariya with a grin. "Did Hiroto tell you all of this?"

"No. He didn't say anything. I looked it up on the Internet."

"You're not supposed to believe everything the Internet says."

"Only one over four of the things in that folder is printed out from the Internet. The rest came from the old newspapers I found from the orphanage. Hitomiko-san keeps the papers in the attic."

"You have a bright future as a detective."

"Please don't change the topic, Coach Endou."

By this point, everybody had sweat drops on their heads. They had no idea where this conversation between a soccer player and coach was going. Nishiki was the most confused one among them. He lowered his body and whispered to Kurama, "What's going on here?" in an exasperated voice. Kurama shook his head, showing that he had no clue either.

Everybody went silent as Kariya and Endou went through a stare-off. Neither of them blinked—Kariya with his narrowed sharp eyes making him look like a feline predator and Endou with his stern face trying to scare Kariya off with his adult aura.

The adult closed his eyes with a loud sigh. "I guess there's no helping it. You already knew too much anyway," he opened the folder Kariya brought again. The defender smirked in victory and laid back to sit on the sofa behind him. Kidou shook his head while Gouenji had his arms crossed with an expression that said he couldn't believe that just happened. Shindou, Kirino, Sangoku and Kurumada were smiling with relief for they were finally able to know what Endou meant the other night.

"Kidou, Gouenji, you guys wanna join in the storytelling?" Endou offered with a goofy forced grin. "I'll pass," Gouenji waved his hand. Kidou shrugged. "I guess,"

"Ten years ago, after the Aliea Academy incident, another horrible incident happened," Endou started off, his hand flipping through the pages of cut out newspaper articles. Every teenager listened attentively. "We called it 'Raimon's Curse',"

"Raimon's… curse?" Tsurugi lifted an eyebrow. Kariya was right about this one. He was interested in this. "The reason we called it that was because Raimon was the first place the curse fell on. As you can see in these articles," Kidou took out one of the newspaper strips that had the biggest headline about a missing soccer team from Australia, "the curse went worldwide."

Everyone gasped at this. "So… uhm… what happened…?" Hikaru asked. He had never heard of this incident at all and he was really curious. "How come we never heard of this curse?" he continued.

"That's a good question, Hikaru," Endou smiled. "It's because the soccer community tried our best to make sure the real truth behind these accidents weren't found out by public. Only active soccer players at the time knew what really happened while the rest of the world was oblivious."

"We call the entity that brought this curse to us—" Kidou was cut off by Gouenji. "The Phantom." The red-clad adult propped his head up using his hand on the table. "It's called 'The Phantom' because it doesn't have a solid form and most of the time is invisible. Nobody knows its origins or its purpose of spreading this curse among soccer players only."

"Gouenji's right." Endou looked at him with a grin, glad that his best friend decided to join in as well. Gouenji looked away. Kidou smiled a little. "Because of its invisibility, it can curse a soccer team anytime and anywhere." Kidou decided to sit down too after a long period of time standing.

"What's the curse? I mean, what does the curse do?" Hamano asked, starting to get a little bit impatient.

"It starts off by seizing a team's treasured player." Gouenji voiced. "In Raimon's case, it was Endou." His voice broke a little.

Another round of gasps echoed throughout the clubroom. "Coach Endou?!" they looked at one another, disbelief around them. Endou merely nodded his head, unfazed by the teen's reactions. "Yup! Me!" he said cheerfully, as if it was the greatest thing in the world. Kidou coughed. "You should have seen how scared we were of Endou when the Phantom got him." He sounded a little embarrassed to admit that. Haruna, who sat next to him, giggled.

"Did the Phantom change Coach Endou into a monster with fangs and superpowers?!" Shinsuke asked in a scared voice. Endou laughed. "Me? Turned into a monster?" he shook his head. "No, no, nothing like that. The Phantom doesn't change a person's physical appearance or ability. The Phantom attacks a player's mind, thus enabling it to have full control of the player's body and consciousness."

"The effect of being possessed by the Phantom is that your personality takes a 180 degree turn," Gouenji said. "Now imagine this coach of yours the opposite of how he usually acts. Scary, isn't it?" he smiled when half of the team literally shivered—most of them being the first years.

"After the Phantom gains control over the team's treasured player, it'll begin to ruin the player's life," Kidou took the folder from Endou and was now the one skimming through the articles. He remembered every single one of them from ten years ago. It's nostalgic rereading all of this. "It'll try its best to make the player hate or fear his other teammates."

"And Coach Endou was…?" Shindou shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. A bad feeling emerged in his heart.

"The Phantom made me so afraid of my teammates, to the point I even skipped school!" Endou laughed. "When I think about it today, it's a little humorous actually," he chuckled. The teens flinched when Gouenji gave Endou a smack on the head. "How can you find that humorous?!"

Kidou sighed. "One method the Phantom uses to make the player hate or fear his teammates is by memory alteration and false beliefs." He flinched when he came across the article he had been looking for. It was about a team that had argued a lot after the Phantom got their captain and altered said captain's memories of his teammates. The team went missing and was never found.

"The Phantom made me believe Gouenji hated me to the point he'd hurt me," Endou shamelessly admitted. Gouenji jumped at the 'he'd hurt me' part and Tsurugi noticed that. "It also made me forget all the great times I had playing soccer with everyone,"

"But that's not the only thing the Phantom does." Gouenji continued. "After it takes over a player, it'll start to slowly get into the minds of the rest of the team too." He frowned. "If the Phantom succeeds, the team will become nothing short of a queen and her bees. The first player that the Phantom took over is the 'queen' while the rest are the 'bees'."

"In that case, the first player is the leader to the others, right?" Shindou questioned. "Whatever the players orders them to do, they'll do it without doubt?"

"Much like mind controlled minions, yeah. He will also be the Phantom's main base." Kidou answered. "There are, however, rare cases where the first player is able to fight the Phantom from the inside. He'll try to get the Phantom out of him. When this happens, the Phantom will move its base from the first player to the player that has the closest relationship to the first player, since the move will be easier."

Gouenji looked at the team's confused faces and he sighed. "For example, if the Phantom got Shindou and he's fighting it—the Phantom will move to Kirino, who is his best friend."

Both mentioned teenagers looked at each other and frowned. They did not like the idea of being possessed by the Phantom at all. A thought came across Aoi. "Did Coach Endou fight it then?"

Kidou smirked. "Oh, he fought it alright. Till the very end." But his smirk faltered. Gouenji stood up and walked towards the door. "Sorry guys, I have an appointment. I'll call you tonight, Endou." And he left without another word. Endou stared at the door; his expression was filled with regret and sorry. "Ah, anyways, that's basically what happened to a lot of soccer teams ten years ago. After a couple of months, the Phantom suddenly disappeared and all the chaos stopped." Endou turned his attention back to the teenagers in front of him.

"Then what about the missing soccer teams? And the deaths?" Kariya recalled reading about a lot of them murdered. His eyebrows furrowed. It didn't make sense. What was the purpose of all of this?

"Sadly, they are the teams and players who couldn't pass the test." Kidou closed the folder and handed it back to Kariya. "Test?" Kirino's ears perked. "Like the test that Coach Endou talked about the other night?" he got nods from both adults as answers.

"What test?" Shinsuke asked Kirino. "A test that determines how strong your bond is with each other—how much you care for each other." Endou answered on behalf of the defender. "That's why all of you have to be ready to face anything. The Phantom has many tricks up its sleeves."

"Are you saying we're going to go through this test?" Kurama scratched the back of his head. "How are you so sure? I thought you said the Phantom disappeared."

"Because the Phantom is back—and its new target is the new Raimon." Kidou said with a stern voice. "Wait, wait, so does this mean one of us is already, you know, possessed by the Phantom? Who is it?" Nishiki flailed around. He started to panic. This wasn't good at all.

A single gasp sounded from behind everyone. All eyes turned to Tsurugi, who had a horrified expression on his face. His mouth was agape and his pupils dilated in fear and worry. His voice sounded shaky and insecure, almost as if he was threading on a thin line.

"Tenma. The Phantom's targeting Tenma."


	6. It's Too Late

I'm really sorry I didn't update last week, my computer broke down and I had to send it for repairs. I'm so glad to have it back with me! I also apologize for this short chapter. I had to make it short because in the next chapter things will get even more interesting! Thank you for sticking with me till this far!

* * *

**Phantom**

**Chapter 6**

**It's Too Late**

All of them were silent as Tsurugi's realization sunk in. Nishiki blinked before scratching his head, a look of confusion on his face. "Tenma? Why Tenma?" he wondered out loud. "I thought the Phantom targeted the strongest player in a team? And didn't the coach say he was, what was it again… depressed?" his eyes locked with Tsurugi's and the younger forward narrowed his golden eyes into a glare. Nishiki flinched under Tsurugi's glare and turned his attention to Endou. "Right, coach?"

"I lied." Endou said, almost without any guilt. "The doctor himself didn't know the answer to Tenma's condition at the time, so I took the opportunity and lied about it after realizing the Phantom is back." Another round of gasps echoed throughout the clubroom, the loudest owned by Nishiki. "S-So this means… But… But why would you lie about this in the first place?!" he demanded.

"Because I didn't want to worry any of you—I hoped that maybe Tenma could be saved before it got worse." Endou explained with a pained expression. Maybe it wasn't a good idea after all, not telling the players. Most of them were silent—most of them except Hayami.

"WE'RE DOOMED!" he shouted and his head slammed onto the table. Hamano, who sat next to him, sweat dropped. "THE PHANTOM'S GOING TO GET US AND WE'LL BE GONERS!" he shivered, scared. Hamano pat his back. "Come on now, don't say that. Coach Endou went through the same thing and he's still here! I'm sure we can get through this too, we're the Raimon soccer club aren't we?!" Hamano said enthusiastically. He lifted up the spirits of almost everybody there with his words of encouragement.

"But why Tenma…?" Shinsuke wondered out loud. It was apparent he was worried for the brunet. All of them were. "It's probably because Tenma was the one that stirred up the winds of revolution among Raimon's members." Endou worded out his thoughts with a scratch of his head. "If he hadn't been so persistent about playing real soccer, there's a probability that Fifth Sector would still be controlling junior high school soccer right now."

The tension in the room increased. Everybody's faces were solemn. Tsurugi walked to the door, his face drooped low and his fists were shaking. "Where are you going?" Aoi asked and jumped to her feet. He shook his head. "I'm going to find Tenma," she rushed to him. "I'm coming too!" her eyes shone with determination.

"You can't meet him. He's too scared of you now, Tsurugi." Endou said. He was on his feet as well. The teenager turned his head; his gaze was in a piercing glare—silently demanding another better reason to not meet with Tenma in this current condition. "He can meet Aoi, but not Tsurugi—or the rest of the players for that matter." Endou continued. Aoi's eyebrows rose. The coach sensed the confusion in the teenagers' minds and he sighed. "The curse doesn't have an effect on the managers."

"What?!" Midori shouted. "You mean, we're like, spared?" she had her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. "That's the case, I guess," Haruna spoke on behalf of Endou. There was a sad smile on her face. "But even if we weren't affected, we still couldn't do anything to help them," she placed a hand over her mouth, "There was nothing us managers had been able to do that day…" Kidou wrapped his arms around Haruna and pulled her into a hug. She started to cry on his chest as her brother tried to soothe her. Midori's mouth was agape at the woman's emotional breakdown and she immediately sat back down. Silently she wondered to herself, _so this means _we_ can't do anything to help the boys too? But… help them with what?_

Akane looked around and she immediately had a bad feeling. She nudged Midori with her elbow and said in a quiet voice, "Aoi-chan and Tsurugi-kun are gone." The redhead turned towards the direction of the door and frowned. Akane was right; the two were nowhere to be seen. _"Shit."_ Midori cursed under her breath.

* * *

They ran most of the way to the manor, with Tsurugi in the lead and Aoi tagging along. He knocked on the door in a fast pace. She was surprised he didn't break down the door instead. It creaked and Aki was more than shocked to see them both. She opened the door wider and let them inside, questioning their intention to visit as she did.

"We want to see Tenma," Tsurugi quickly replied. He saw how Aki's face fell. "He _is_ here, right?" he started to feel the panic taking over his body. If Tenma wasn't here, where else could he be? But all his worries went away when Aki nodded her head. "He's in his room but…"

"But what?" Aoi took a step closer to the woman. Aki looked to the side, averting her gaze. "He locked himself in there ever since he came home. I couldn't even get him to eat lunch," she replied and bit her lip. Tsurugi clenched his fists. He started to make his way to Tenma's room when Aoi grabbed his wrist. "Tsurugi, wait! Coach Endou said you can't meet him!" she reminded. He froze and scowled. Aki immediately caught on to their conversation. "Endou-kun already told you guys?" she asked in surprise. Both teenagers slowly nodded their heads. "But why…" Tsurugi started slowly, "why can't _I_ meet him when she can?" Aoi let his wrist go. She turned to Aki for help; maybe the woman knew the answer.

"It's because the Phantom altered Tenma's memories of you and the rest of the Raimon members except the managers—I'm sure even his memories of Endou-kun and Kidou-kun were altered too," Aki explained what the two teenagers had missed when they sneaked out of the clubroom.

"But why just the managers?" Aoi asked.

Aki shook her head. "Nobody knows exactly why. We came up with a theory that it's because the managers don't play soccer like the rest. There had been a few female teams who succumbed to the curse too but their managers were unharmed."

Aoi turned to look at Tsurugi. It was obvious from the expression on his face—even if he had his head down—that he was disappointed and mad. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll go and talk to him. Maybe I can help him a little," it took him a few silent moments later before his shoulders relaxed and he nodded slowly. He stood there in static as she made her way to Tenma's room. Aki listened as Aoi knocked on the door.

"Tenma?" the girl knocked again. The door creaked open slightly and she saw an eye pop open. "A-Aoi? Is that you…?" his voice sounded raspy and dry. Aoi was surprised Tenma even opened the door. She thought he wouldn't even want to talk to her. So Aki was right, Tenma's memories of her weren't altered after all. "Tenma, can I come in?"

His eye narrowed. She couldn't see the rest of him, just this one eye. "I heard another voice with you…" he said suspiciously. "Whose is it?"

Aoi was caught off guard. What was she supposed to answer? "Oh um… that was Midori-san!" she quickly lied. She was about to say 'Shinsuke' but then she remembered that Tenma probably didn't trust Shinsuke as much as he didn't trust Tsurugi anymore.

Tenma shut the door close and Aoi heard it click into a lock. She was surprised by the sudden movement. "Tenma?" she softly knocked on the door again. _"YOU LIAR! LEAVE ME ALONE! I SAW YOU AND TSURUGI COME IN FROM THE WINDOW! NOW YOU ARE TRYING TO KILL ME TOO!"_ she took a step back and gasped at Tenma's accusation. Her cheeks burnt with anger and sadness and she felt her eyes water. How could Tenma accuse her of such a thing like wanting to kill him? That was the last thing she wanted! Her only intention right now was to save him—save all of them—from the curse, from the dreaded Phantom.

Tsurugi and Aki came rushing towards her after Tenma's shout and when Aki saw her teary face she immediately hugged Aoi and comforted her. The teenage boy glanced at Tenma's door with furrowed eyebrows. Was the Phantom really that desperate into annihilating them? Even to the point of involving the managers? Is this what all of them will be going through, an emotional and mental challenge?

Tsurugi found himself vowing to stop all of this nonsense for good—for the sake of the team and the sake of his best friend.

* * *

Aki carried the tray of food with her to Tenma's room. It was a young night and Tenma hadn't eaten anything all day. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get him to leave the room. Aoi and Tsurugi already left a long time ago with discouraged spirits. The woman wondered to herself what she could do to help them. Feeling helpless was what she hated the most in the world.

She knocked on the door. "Tenma, please open the door. I made your favourite food. If you don't want it, at least eat some. You must be hungry," her persuasions weren't replied to. Nothing but silence came from inside. Aki frowned. She turned the door knob and gasped when the door opened. "Tenma…?" a cold breeze tickled her cheeks and she drew in a sharp breath. The tray she had been holding on to fell off her hands.

He was nowhere to be in his room. The window was wide open. The cold night air blew her hair as she fell to her knees, slowly realizing the fact that Tenma had run away.


	7. Their Next Choice

I really can't say how sorry I am I didn't update last week. You see, I had a lot of assignments last week and barely had enough time for myself. It's tough working in this place, so please forgive me if I don't update for one week! Thank you for all the support all of you have given me, I hope you will have wonderful times!

* * *

**Phantom**

**Chapter 7**

**Their Next Choice**

The storm caught them by surprise. It had been bright and sunny—five minutes later everything around them was thunder, lightning and rain pelting their faces. Everyone had no choice but to take shelter in the clubroom, their morning practice automatically cancelled. The absence of both Coach Endou and Kidou—who usually acted as temporary replacement if Endou had other important matters to take care of—started murmurs and questions among the players. An absent Tenma started to make them worry too. Tsurugi had seen from a distance Shindou asking Haruna if she knew anything but the woman shook her head—he took that as a no.

Tsurugi was changing back into his usual clothes—it was pouring outside and it didn't look like it'll stop until afternoon. He closed his locker, a look of irritation on his face. The meeting with Tenma yesterday went downhill from the start. Tenma couldn't even trust Aoi anymore. What chances are there that the brunet still believed in him? The thought sent an aching feeling down his chest. He absentmindedly clutched his fists and shoved them down his pockets.

"There, there, you don't have to be so mad about not being able to practice!" Hamano cheered from beside him with jazz hands and a goofy grin. Tsurugi raised his eyebrows at him before realizing the senior had thought he was mad because of the rain. He shook his head. "Sorry, it's not that," he found himself sighing. "Then it must be about Tenma, right?" the grin widened, an action Tsurugi was inept with. His eyes met the floor, unable to face the senior. The taste of copper filled his mouth and he lost himself in his thoughts again. The scene from yesterday replayed in his mind. Aoi's deters echoed in his ears and it felt like forever before he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to Hamano's face and jerked back from surprise—the senior's face was far too close for personal comfort. "I think you need to loosen up. You're worrying way too much," the carefree teenager advised.

Tsurugi gritted his teeth. He scurried away and didn't bother to apologize for knocking into Hamano's shoulder. He was directly in front of the doors when it opened and Endou stood behind it. The teenager froze in his tracks immediately at the sight of the team's coach. He didn't expect to see the adult at all today. Endou walked in and Tsurugi stepped aside to let him enter. "Coach Endou!" the rest of the players greeted from behind him. Most had a tone of surprise in their voices—others were glad to see him. "Good morning everyone, sorry I'm late." Endou forced a smile. Tsurugi noted his brown hair was damp and so were most of his clothes. He wouldn't believe it if Endou said he had not been running in the rain. Then again his clothes weren't exactly that soaked to qualify for the assumption. "I actually had to rush to Tenma's place earlier morning with Kidou," he continued. Tsurugi immediately gave the coach undivided attention. He didn't have to ask the coach why he and Kidou had to be there—Aoi beat him to it.

"What happened?" she was on her feet by now and her voice was chocked a little. Tsurugi saw the fear in her eyes—she was afraid the Phantom had done something bad to Tenma again, he concluded. He wished that wasn't the case though. Endou crossed his arms. His eyebrows furrowed and everybody instantly knew it wasn't something good.

"Tenma ran away from home."

Thunder accompanied the hushed silence that befell the team. Endou's words seemed to make everybody freeze in shock and horror. There was an air of disbelief surrounding them. Endou didn't bother to wait for any of them to ask before he filled them in. "He ran away last night, around nine. Kidou and I went to the manor this morning to see if he left any possible clues to where he's headed. Kidou's out there looking for him as we speak," he scrutinized everyone's faces with a pause, "and I'm only here right now to tell all of you there won't be any practice today—not that it matters with the sudden storm. But there won't be any practice for the next few days either. You're all free to do whatever you want. I'll take my leave now," Endou hurriedly turned on his heels and started for the door. Tsurugi stood in his way. He was scowling. "The Phantom made him run away, am I right?" he hissed.

The adult quickly nodded. "More or less, Tenma ran away out of fear and the inability to trust anyone anymore. He probably doesn't trust Aki all that much too because of my close relation with her. That's why he chose to run away. A lot of people ten years ago did the same thing, that's why we're not surprised," he walked past Tsurugi. The door opened and he stood in the middle of it with his head turned to the rest of them. "But that doesn't mean we won't search for him seriously," nobody missed the determination in his voice. "He could be anywhere and probably hurt too—especially in his fragile state." And he left, silently promising to his players that he would bring Tenma home safe and sound.

* * *

"Find anything new?" Endou asked once he was back in Tenma's room with Kidou. The other adult shook his head. "The only things missing from his room according to Aki are his bag, some clothes and the soccer ball he treasured. Seems like he emptied his piggy bank too," he picked up a hollow piggy bank and shook it. No sound. "Has Toramaru called back?" Endou asked again, scanning Tenma's study table. Not much was on it. Some pens, a few books and a calendar. "He's narrowing down the places Tenma could be heading to. Okinawa is on the top of the list since his parents live there," Kidou replied. "Right, I'll get Tsunami on the phone. What about Gouenji? Does he know about this yet?" Endou questioned.

"He's with Toramaru," Kidou replied simply. "I'm going to get Haruna from Raimon. Then we'll both go to Megane's and see if he can hack into the security cameras across town—Tenma's bound to show up in one of the recordings one way or another," he started down the hallway with Endou tagging behind him. "Prioritize the convenience store cameras. He would have gone into one and bought some food with the money he had," he stopped walking as Kidou opened the front door. "Of course," he nodded. "What are you going to do?" their eyes locked and they stayed like that for a sheer moment before Endou spoke, the thudding of rain outside seemed so distant in the background.

"I'm going to find a way to destroy the Phantom."

* * *

It was easier said than done. Nobody knew the Phantom's weaknesses. There was a possibility it didn't even have any weakness. To say he was clueless was an understatement—Endou was at a dead end before he even started. His only course of action left was to study the old data of the Phantom from all those years ago. But he figured it would be pointless either way. Aki had told him about Aoi and Tsurugi's visit yesterday. The new information took him by surprise. Endou had a bad feeling that ten years of absence gave the Phantom new strength—or at least, a new motive for its return.

When it disappeared ten years ago, everyone in the soccer community could finally sleep without another worry in mind. It was a relief, especially for Endou and the rest of Raimon Junior High's soccer club. Everyone believed it was gone for good and most of them concluded that the Phantom left because it got what it wanted. Endou had been among the people who placed his faith in that. With the return of the Phantom, came his broken faith and beliefs. Now he needed to do everything he could to save his players. If they were to be taken away by the Phantom into an unknown realm—like so many others—or succumb to the test they would be going through, Endou could never bring himself to play soccer ever again.

He closed the scrapbook Kariya had given him. It was a miracle the boy had been able to find all of those newspaper clippings and associated them with their current crisis. Kariya had been much wiser than he thought. Or perhaps it was the spur of the moment determination to know what was wrong with his friend. Either way, Kariya had done a lot of help for him with this scrapbook. Endou reread every single thing in the scrapbook and surprisingly he remembered each of them as if they were bedtime stories. He flipped through the pages again, the lightning outside his office in Raimon occasionally lighting his surroundings with a blinding light. The hot chocolate stain was still visible on the floor from yesterday's fiasco. He didn't exactly clean it and the stain didn't have much importance anyway. The matter at hand needed a lot more of his attention than a silly stain.

To be honest, Endou half expected to find an article about Raimon's soccer club ten years ago. But their case never made it to the papers, mostly because they had been the first to go through it and also the first to survive. The brunet wiped his face with his hands and groaned. Never in his adult life would he expect to be facing it again—the Phantom, the nightmare to all.

His phone rang, startling him from his daydream. It was Kidou. "Hello?" he answered the call. Silently he hoped it was good news. There was already enough bad news, adding more to the flame would burn the house down. _"Endou, come to Megane's quickly,"_ Kidou said. Endou quirked his eyebrow and stood up from his chair, shrugging on his jacket as he asked why.

"_We found Tenma."_

* * *

That one sentence had been music to his ears. Of course, when they said they found Tenma, they didn't mean physically. Megane found a video of a security camera in a convenience store with Tenma in it, just as Endou had predicted. But the newfound information also bothered them because said convenience store was way out of town. That meant Tenma had been travelling the whole night without rest.

"I can't believe he walked all the way there in one night," Endou uttered. Megane shook his head. "Not quite walked, per say. Look at this," he clicked on another video. It was from the security camera outside the convenience store—and it showed Tenma parking a bicycle. Everybody else gasped. As far as they could remember, Aki never said anything about a missing bicycle. In fact, she didn't have one in the first place. So where did the soccer player get one?

"It's not really clear in the footage but the bike looks old and worn out. It's missing its brakes too. Someone must have left it in the dump and he took it," Megane concluded. Kidou nodded his head in approval. "That makes sense,"

"Do you know where he's headed though?" Haruna asked from behind him. Megane typed into his computer and a few maps popped onto the screen. "Unfortunately we have to cross Okinawa from the list. He's not going home to his parents—he's heading in the opposite direction," the computer geek said, pointing to a point in the map of Japan. "This is the last place we saw him—the convenience store—and this is Okinawa," he dragged his finger across the screen, "and this is where we are at. There's no way he took the wrong road if he did plan on going home in the first place,"

Endou furrowed his eyebrows. This was confusing. Where else would Tenma go to other than Okinawa? He was going to ask Aki if the brunet had any other relatives living in the area later. Chances are he did but probably didn't know them well enough to actually spend the night with them.

"Tenma… where is it that you're going?"

* * *

"I can't believe Tenma could do this," Shinsuke had his head on the cafeteria table. Kariya chewed on his bun next to him, looking just as irritated. "And last night too! What if someone robbed him? Killed him? Kidnapped him and sent him off to another country?!" the small defender voiced out his worries. He shook a startled Kariya, almost as if he was demanding answers to his questions from the taller defender. "Sh-Shinsuke-kun, stop that!" Honestly, Kariya felt annoyed by Shinsuke's emotional breakdown. Sure, he was worried too but cut him some slack—he wasn't a great person to express one's worries to in the first place.

Aoi played with her food, not having an ounce of interest in eating it. Did Tenma run away because of their visit yesterday? Was it because of that he no longer felt secure even in the comfort of his own room? She felt the guilt on her heart growing. It hurt too, knowing that Tenma no longer had trust in her. They had been _childhood friends_, knowing each other ever since they were small and trusting one another to help when things turn to the worst. But when the Phantom came and took away his memories—his _real_ memories—replacing them with fakes that she didn't even want to know about, all of the trust they gained over the years seemed to vanish with it. Moreover, he feared her—like how one would fear death. Her eyes stung with tears. She wanted the old Tenma back, she wanted to see him grin again—she wanted to see him play soccer happily again.

She didn't want to see him like this ever again.

* * *

Somewhere far from the cafeteria, where the thunder roared louder, Tsurugi leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed. The window beside him tapped to the rhythm of falling rain. It would make anybody feel serene—shame it didn't have an effect on him. Those who didn't know Tsurugi or didn't know what was happening to the soccer club at the current moment would think he was agitated by the drastic weather change. It wasn't the case and he wasn't lying when he denied it. His train of thought would always stop at only one thing, or rather, a person. The same person who was possessed by an invincible entity named the Phantom.

His fists curled into balls. Forehead creased, he let out a 'Tch,' before sighing. Worrying would do nothing to save Tenma. He wanted to help—_needed_ to help—but what could he do to be of assistance to the adults? Was there really something he could do in the first place to help his best friend? Was he going to be useless or a burden to the case?

Tsurugi didn't know which possibility he feared more.

* * *

Kirino was headed to the laboratory with his books in hand. Shindou had went earlier than he did—the defender left the class later because one of his pigtails went loose and he lost his hair tie. He had a hard time finding it—Shindou offered to help but Kirino dismissed him, saying it was no big deal. Now that he found it again—he made a mental note to bring spare hair ties for the rest of the school year—he quickly shuffled to his next class. Good thing the teacher was the type who wouldn't mind if he came in late for a good reason.

Just as he was about to round a corner, he saw the figure of Endou standing in the middle of the hallway talking to the phone. The startled Kirino hid behind a set of lockers—he didn't even know why he hid, it was a sudden intuition and he felt obliged to follow it. The adult was walking in circles, still talking into his cell phone.

"So you're the only relative he has? There's really no other place Tenma can go to for safety or comfort or anything like that?"

The soccer player's eyebrows rose. He wondered who Endou was talking to. His wild guess said it was Aki, Tenma's relative who the brunet was living with until now. He also assumed Endou was talking about Tenma's run away stunt. Now he was curious if Endou and the other adults already found out Tenma's current exact location. He thought maybe not—especially in this weather.

"Okinawa is the only place left for him to go and he's travelling the _opposite_ way. What place does he have in mind that he would believe it to be safe?"

Endou's frustrated voice frightened Kirino slightly. But all of that went away when he thought about the man's words. His eyebrows furrowed. Tenma's not going to Okinawa as most of them had expected him to do—he wasn't going to ask how Endou found that out—and there was no other place Tenma could stay in. That was definitely mind boggling. What could be a place that was out of town, not in Okinawa but Tenma was familiar with and felt safe there? Did such a place exist in the first place?

The teenager's eyes widened and he gasped in realization. He tripped on his own feet and dropped his books, evidently attracting Endou's attention—who had long since stopped talking to Aki on the phone. The brunet sweat dropped at the sight of pink hair—who else in the whole school had pink hair other than Kirino Ranmaru, Raimon's ace defender? "Kirino? What are you doing here eavesdropping on me? Shouldn't you be in class?"

Ah—crap. He was caught. Kirino slowly turned his head and gave a small wave to the coach. A forced chuckle came out of him. "I should be but then I lost one of my hair ties and had to look for it,"

Endou had to suppress a laugh. Of course, why else would Kirino be late for class? "That doesn't answer my question on why you were eavesdropping though,"

"First of all, I apologize for that. I should have just walked away when I saw you but I couldn't help it after realizing you were talking about Tenma. Secondly," the defender narrowed his eyes; his dropped books already snug in the comfort of his arms. He locked eyes with Endou. "I have an idea to where Tenma might be going to,"

The adult looked quite startled. His expression turned into a serious one. "Tell me," he said, crossing his arms as he did.

Kirino gripped his books, almost for support. "A place that's not in this town, not in Okinawa but Tenma is familiar with and would feel safe there," he swallowed some saliva to clear his dry throat. "God Eden," he said in just above a whisper. "God Eden fits the description more than any other place," he repeated himself, louder this time. To be honest, he didn't want to admit that a place like God Eden would bring Tenma the feeling of safety and comfort. It seemed too farfetched and foreign. But what else could be the answer?

Endou was caught off guard by Kirino's answer. But when he thought about it, Kirino had a point. Tenma didn't get around much and the furthest place he had ever gone to since he moved here was God Eden, the place where he was apparently 'kidnapped' to. And when Endou remembered the map Megane showed them earlier, suddenly it all made sense. He managed a smile, ruffled Kirino's hair—the defender looked quite annoyed by the action—and thanked him.

"Also, Kirino?"

"Yes?"

"Call the others to the meeting room after school. I want to have a word with all of you."

"Why?"

"We're all going to God Eden."

Looks like this time Kirino had a _really_ good reason to be late for class.


	8. Battle Ready

For starters, I want to apologize for not updating in weeks! I had been admitted into the hospital and only recently got out. I'm not supposed to be moving a lot but I don't think typing on a computer counts! Thank you for waiting this long and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Phantom**

**Chapter 8**

**Battle Ready**

"God Eden? Endou, are you sure?" Kidou furrowed his eyebrows after listening to the brunet's suggestion. It sounded absurd, really. Why the island, of all places for Tenma to go?

"Think about it. God Eden is the only other place he knows outside of town. Look at the map. The way he's headed—it leads to God Eden," Endou's voice sounded a little stiff. His hands are on the table in front of him—they were in Resistance's base. The place was dusty and when they first entered they found it hard to breathe in. The place hadn't been used since the Holy Road finals.

Silence covered the room like a blanket. "But there must be another reason why he's going there, when he had the obvious choice of Okinawa," Kidou broke it, his eyebrows furrowed—how they always did when he thought too much. "And that's what I want to find out—_why _God Eden? Is there something there that we don't know of? Or maybe—_just maybe_—the Phantom has something to do with the island," Endou's eyebrows were furrowed too, only this time he was frowning.

Kidou nodded. He saw the logic in Endou's questions. "It's been a week, Endou. I have a feeling you need to gather the players," he said. Endou's eyes dropped to his hands. "I know. I already did," there was guilt in his voice.

* * *

Tsurugi was silently sitting on his chair in the classroom, without once looking up to pay attention to the lesson at hand. He wasn't in the mood at all to learn. All he could think of right now was the peculiar situation he woke up to that morning.

When his eyes opened, he found himself on the floor of his bedroom, sweating, gasping and apparently _crying _as well. He didn't understand how he ended up like that. Did he have a really horrible nightmare last night? If only he could remember. But considering his body's reaction to the nightmare, he didn't think he'd wanted to remember if it was that horrible.

The bell rang but he only realized everyone else was leaving for lunch when Hikaru called out to him. "Tsurugi-kun! Kirino-senpai wants to talk to us!" he was at the door and Tsurugi could see from his place someone with pink hair waiting not far from Hikaru. His eyebrows perked up. When he reached them Kirino immediately went to the point by telling them Coach Endou wanted the soccer club members to assemble in the meeting room after school—and it was important they were there. Hikaru asked why but Kirino shook his head. Tsurugi wasn't sure if that meant he didn't know or he didn't want to tell them so soon.

"You'll find out later. Now go, get some lunch," the senior ushered them out before he too left. Tsurugi couldn't help but have a bad feeling over this meeting.

* * *

It was silent. Far too silent in the meeting room, where all the soccer players were now assembled. The doors opened and Shindou walked in with Kirino. Only then did somebody dared to speak. "Kirino, why did you call all of us here?" Kurumada asked the other defender. "Like I said, Coach Endou wanted to meet us," Kirino placed his schoolbag on the empty chair next to him. "I know that, but why?" Kurumada sounded exasperated. Kirino looked at him from the corner of his eye. He didn't need to say anything more—the door opened and Endou walked in with heavy steps. "Everyone's here?" he stopped not a long distance away from the doors. "Good," there was hesitation before he continued, "To be honest, I'm surprised."

He would have laughed at their confused expressions. But now was not the right time to laugh. "I'm sure all of you are aware it's been a week since Tenma started showing signs of the Phantom invading his mind," there were nods and a few groaned at the reminder, "So it's a surprise to me the Phantom made Tenma runaway instead of trying to take over the team,"

"Are you saying that it usually takes one week for the Phantom to complete what it started?" Shindou asked.

Endou said, "Exactly—which is why I want to take all of you with me to God Eden,"

There were gasps among them at the mention of the island's name. Not many good memories were made there—but definitely ones that were worthwhile. Before anyone could ask, Endou spoke up again. "Tenma's going to be there,"

The murmurs died down immediately. He knew they would want to come. There were no other people in this world that would do anything to save Tenma. "But if we go see him… won't he freak out again?" Kariya asked, a hand scratching his head.

"Remember when I said that the test can be won by the possessed fighting against the Phantom?" the players nodded, Endou continued, "That's not the only way to defeat it," everyone held their tongue as they waited for the coach to tell them the second way to get rid of the curse. "The Phantom loves challenging people—testing their abilities. If we can get the Phantom to challenge at least one of us and win, we'll have Tenma again. But I expect since the Phantom doesn't have a solid form he will use Tenma's body as a temporary host. Which means whoever is challenged will be going against a possessed Tenma,"

"It's like when a restless soul or demon possesses someone, am I right? The possessed doesn't even realize there's something inside them and they can't remember a single thing they did in between two points of time," Shindou held his chin, deep in thought. It happened in movies a lot. He hadn't thought of the possibilities of him or someone he knew going through a similar situation.

"Exactly," Endou replied.

"That's why you said he wouldn't freak out. It's because he wouldn't even realize he's with us," Shindou continued and the rest nodded in either agreement or understanding. "We'll do it. To save Tenma," as captain, he spoke for everyone. "Whatever challenge we get, we'll do it and win."

Endou looked relieved to hear that—Shindou sounded so confident it was hard not to believe Raimon could do it.

* * *

Tsurugi was visiting his brother again. But the older Tsurugi knew something was wrong. His little brother wasn't talking like he used to and answered to his questions with one word replies. "Kyousuke." His voice was firm, to attract the other's attention. It worked as the younger one looked up from whatever trance he was in. "There's something on your mind, isn't there?" Yuuichi asked with a creased forehead.

Kyousuke looked down again from the question. He wanted to answer his brother but his mouth was heavy. He wanted to tell him about Tenma and the trip to God Eden tomorrow but words could not be formed by his tongue. He wanted to tell him about this morning and the condition he was in upon waking up. He could feel Yuuichi's stare on him as he kept his silence and before long he sighed.

"I don't… feel good," he started off. Yuuichi's eyebrows perked up. Kyousuke continued before his brother said anything more. "I had a nightmare last night," he mumbled. He wasn't sure why he brought up that one first. "But I can't remember it. I know it was a nightmare… because when I woke up I was shaking and… crying…" his hands that were on his knees gripped the fabric of his pants. How many times had he told himself to forget it? That the nightmare wasn't important? But it was impossible. It always came back to him—begging him to inquire himself about it.

"I really want to say it's not important but since you're worrying yourself about it, it must be." Yuuichi said and Kyousuke looked up into his eyes. He could see the worry in his brother's eyes. Kyousuke felt guilty. His brother had already done so much for him. He didn't want his brother to share his worries now too. Kyousuke let a small smile on his lips. "That's impossible. A dream is just a dream—a movie for when you're sleeping. It's only natural people forget what they dreamed of—of course it wouldn't be important,"

"But you're worried about it because of the effect it had on you, right?" Yuuichi continued, not backing down. Kyousuke faltered and he found himself silent. "You had nightmares before but none of them made you flinch in your sleep," Yuuichi recalled the morning when they younger where Kyousuke casually walked up to breakfast and started talking about a monster that had been chasing him in his dream. Kyousuke looked away from Yuuichi's stare. His brother knew him too well. Frustrated, he stood up slowly and headed for the door. "I'll… come back again tomorrow," he closed the door behind him and left the hospital.

* * *

He had been walking aimlessly all evening. And now it was far past sunset and Tsurugi found himself under the Steel Plaza, where a battered tyre lay on the ground and a broken rope tied to it. The other half of the rope dangled in the wind from a tree. Someone must have used that for something. Tsurugi wasn't sure for what. There was one lamp post and it was thankfully bright enough to light the whole scene. Tsurugi sat on the bench. The night view was wonderful.

However he felt a pain in his chest when he remembered the nights where he and Tenma practiced Fire Tornado Double Drive together. The non-stop trials and the fails—the last night before the match and they still couldn't perfect it. When Tenma told him they should do it in the game, he was surprised. But there was something in Tenma's eyes that told him it would work out—their hissatsu technique would work in the game. And it did.

Tsurugi shivered when a chilled wind blew past. It was cold tonight. He lay on his back on the bench. He wished he had a soccer ball with him. If he did at least he could practice a little bit by himself before tomorrow morning. A drop of water landed on his cheek and Tsurugi gasped. He wiped it away when another came and hit his forehead this time. "Don't tell me it's another storm," he grumbled and quickly stood up, unfastening the clasp around his neck. He could probably use his purple 'cape' to protect him from the upcoming rain on the way home.

There was a thud and Tsurugi felt something nudge his ankle. Looking down he was surprised to see a soccer ball. "Where did this come from…?" he muttered. From behind him, he felt a presence like no other and shivered.

"_My, my, if it isn't Tsurugi…"_

He froze and felt a strong breeze blow from behind him. The unfastened 'cape' blew away and Tsurugi couldn't care to chase it. What was more important was the fact that there was someone behind him. And that voice… he knew it well.

"_Spiral Draw!"_

His eyes widened. The wind blew stronger—this time around him. Tsurugi didn't hear the laughter amongst the deafening wind when he dropped to the ground, unconscious from a blow to the head.

* * *

Was it all another nightmare? That was the first question Tsurugi asked himself when he woke up to the alarm clock next morning. But he didn't remember coming home. He didn't remember unlocking the door and coming into his room. He couldn't remember anything from last night. Was this a slow process of amnesia? He didn't know.

Tsurugi frowned before he crawled out of bed. He better went to school now or else he'd be late.

It was then he realized his purple 'cape' was nowhere in his room.

* * *

Having to come to school directly in his tracksuit, he felt sort of embarrassed. Hamano had teased him, saying he was really enthusiastic about saving Tenma. He brushed him away—to be honest he was relieved Hamano teased him because he felt less pressured. Endou gathered them in front of a bus—Furukaba-san was driving—when everyone was there. All the soccer club members were going—most of them for the second time but for Kurama, Hamano and Hayami it was their first.

He took a seat by the window—Shindou sat next to him. Kirino and Kariya sat behind them. Shinsuke and Hikaru were next to them on the other side of the caravan. The managers were all huddled up on the very back seats. Just before the caravan started, Tsurugi felt a pain shot through his head and he let a whimper escape his mouth. Shindou looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Are you okay?" there was worry in his tone. Tsurugi nodded and dismissed the senior—telling him there was no need to worry.

He bit his lip every time the pain came back throughout the entire bus trip just to avoid any more questions from Shindou—because he didn't know the answer to his sudden headaches.


	9. One Piece at a Time

Ah... I believe some of you were right, I do need to take it easy. I almost got admitted again. Thank you all for the get well wishes! Please do enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Phantom**

**Chapter 9**

**One Piece at a Time**

The skies were gray when they arrived by the port. Kidou, Gouenji and Haruna were already there waiting for them. A boat floated at the end of the dock—Kidou rented it for them. The wind was cold as it blew softly against Tsurugi's cheeks. His jacket waved in the breeze. Everyone huddled in a group as they waited for the adults who were talking among each other a good distance away. When all four finally approached them, everyone turned quiet.

"Endou and Gouenji will be coming with you to God Eden. Haruna and I will stay here," Kidou said. Nobody disagreed. "We'll have to wait a few more minutes until Furukaba finishes adjusting himself to the boat," Endou continued. "You can walk around if you'd like. We'll call you back when the boat's ready,"

And with that permission, most of the players wandered off. Not many stayed put. Tsurugi was among the people who decided to sightsee. He walked to the edge of the waters, relishing the cold breeze. It felt nice and in the same time... familiar. Without warning another shot of pain went through his head. He groaned and pressed his temple. He was glad he was alone—he didn't want anybody to worry about him. Besides, it was probably a migraine—a simple migraine that will go away.

He stood up when the pain subsided. The teenager looked around him. He could see everybody else in the distance and they were surprisingly very far away. Maybe he should turn back now. He didn't want to get lost. Tsurugi started to walk towards the group but something caught his eye. A peculiar looking bush that was far bigger than the ones next to it. It looked like it was... hiding something.

He neared it and slowly ran his finger through the leaves. Peering through the greens, indeed the bush was hiding something. He caught sight of black leather and some blue metal. Tsurugi wrapped his hand around the black leather and the other hand on a part of the blue metal. He pulled it out roughly with one thug and the thing looked like it had jumped out of the bush and onto Tsurugi. There was loud ringing—the sound resembling a bicycle bell and afterwards the sounds of spinning wheels. The teenager opened an eye—he was pushed onto the ground by whatever he had pulled out of the bush. And his assumption was correct, it was a bicycle. An old and worn bicycle that was really rusty now that it wasn't in the darkness anymore. It didn't even have any brakes.

"Tsurugi! Are you okay?" he heard a voice and the thuds of people running on the ground towards him. He groaned—telling Shindou who had been the first to arrive that he was _not_ okay and he needed the heavy scrap of metal off of him. With the help of Kirino, the captain of the soccer team lifted the heavy bike off of the striker, who thanked them afterwards.

"What were you doing?" Kirino asked with eyebrows quirked. Tsurugi was rubbing his forearms. He shrugged. "I saw it in the bush. I was curious—why would someone hide a bike in there?"

"Curiosity killed the cat, Tsurugi. You need to be more careful next time," Shindou advised.

'_But satisfaction brought it back,'_ the forward thought to himself.

More footsteps were heard and soon Endou and the rest of the adults were there. "What happened?" the brunet asked as his eyes shifted from Tsurugi to Kirino to Shindou and then to the bike. His eyes widened and he nudged Kidou with his elbow. The other man seemed surprised too and so did Haruna but Gouenji was indifferent. Tsurugi noticed the change of behaviour and he immediately questioned it. Endou pressed his lips together when Tsurugi asked if they knew the bike.

"It's the same bike Tenma used to get here,"

* * *

So they were on the right track. Gone all the hesitation and doubt Endou ever had about Tenma on God Eden. He really was on the island. How he crossed the sea to get there was a mystery but they'll find out soon when they find Tenma. Gouenji ordered the other soccer players to board the boat while Kidou and Haruna watched from the bus. Furukaba-san was seen discussing some things with Endou and the brunet occasionally nodded. Before long, they were off.

Kidou turned to see Haruna's worried face. "Do you think they'll be alright?" she asked her brother. Kidou let a small smile on his face. "All we can do for now is hope,"

They got into the car and drove away.

* * *

From what he remembered, the trip on boat took them around three hours. Shindou and Kirino were on the starboard side. The waters were murky and the only thing they saw were the shadows of their reflection. The brunet leaned against the railings on his side, head tilted as he did so.

"You look troubled," Kirino pointed out. His arms were on the railings, his eyes watching the ripples of waves as they cut through the water before he turned to Shindou who was next to him. The brunet gave him a small smile as he returned his best friend's gaze. "You're no different," he remarked. Kirino chuckled lightly. "I still can't believe we're going back to that place. I wonder how the others are feeling about this," he voiced out his thoughts and turned again to lean on his back, staring into the gray sky.

"Last time I checked, Tsurugi fell asleep on one of the chairs," Shindou said with amusement in his voice. Kirino's eyes widened. "I'm not sure if that's a sign he's taking it easy or he's too tired from all of this," the defender remarked.

"I'm hoping it's the latter,"

"Me too,"

Their conversation died as a number of seagulls flew in circles above their boat. Both teenagers watched the birds in silence, their squawks are the only sounds other than the waves and the boat's roaring engines.

* * *

Nothing changed about the island—nothing that they could see with the naked eye. Everything was the same when they docked—everything except the atmosphere. It was a heavy and gloomy atmosphere—and it felt thick to the point you could cut it with a knife.

Shindou looked around, half-expecting Tenma to run up to them with an ecstatic grin on his face. He sighed after realizing it was futile hoping for such a ridiculous thing. "Coach Endou," he called for the adult. Endou turned his head towards him with raised eyebrows. "How are we going to find Tenma? The island is big, we won't be able to cover the whole place in one day," he reasoned. Shindou watched as Endou scratched the back of his head.

"We can try the abandoned structures first. If he's been staying here since last night he would have needed a place to sleep in," Endou said. The others agreed in silence.

They brought everything they needed with them from the boat to the tower where they slept in the last time they stayed here. Everyone scattered around, looking for signs of the place being touched. There were none. Not a soccer ball, not a bag or any clothes that belonged to Tenma were found.

"He's not here…" Shinsuke said in a depressed manner. He looked at the stairs that led from the beach to the tower—where he had a race with Tenma to see who could bring the firewood up faster. He felt his eyes water and quickly wiped them away. "Tenma…"

Kariya watched the goalkeeper from afar. He felt sorry for the guy. _'But feeling sorry won't bring Tenma-kun back.'_ The defender started to walk towards a pathway into the forest. They checked the tower, what about the ruins where they first met Shuu? And the waterfall? There were still so many places they could check. Suddenly determined, Kariya broke into a sprint towards his next destination. The sooner they found him, the better.

He didn't realize there was a shadow following him.

* * *

The ruins were untouched like the tower. He checked every crook and cranny but there was not a single sign of human life. Kariya rested by the big tree where two small statues stood. One with a ball on its head and the other resembled a female child. He remembered Tenma said something about the statues to the team the first night they were there but he didn't pay attention so he couldn't recall what it was about. "I think it was something about… the god of soccer?"

He tilted his head and caressed the ball on the statue's head. "I wonder how old this thing is…" it was slowly eaten away by moss but surprisingly the grass around the whole place was kept nice and short. How was that even possible, he didn't know. If the statues were somewhat deities or gods of some sorts, it was probably best if he didn't disturb them anymore than he already did.

Kariya stood up and dusted his tracksuit. He decided to head for the waterfall next. If there were still no signs of Tenma, he was going to go back to the tower. The defender turned around when a gust of wind blew past him. It was strong enough to make him lose his footing but he managed to get right back up on his two feet. "Who's there?!" he shouted. He was quite certain the gust of wind was caused by a soccer ball that missed him. Kariya stole a glance behind his shoulder and he was right—there by the walls of the ruins was a deflated soccer ball.

Now he began to felt afraid. What if it was Tenma? Even worse, what if it was a possessed Tenma? Slowly, Kariya turned his head to the front again. His hands unconsciously gripped into fists and his eyes were narrowed. Suddenly his throat felt drier than usual. But his train of thought froze when he saw it.

There, cowering behind a tree was a shadow. It was standing still, barely moving a muscle. Kariya used his eyes to make out the features of the shadow but to no avail. The shadow was hidden too well. "Who are you?!" Kariya took the all the courage he had to step forward. Something at the back of his mind told him to run—run all the way back to the tower and to the comfort of everybody else. But another thing drove him closer and closer to the shadow. His steps were slow and hesitant but they weren't stopping.

He was still a few feet away when the shadow finally emerged from behind the tree. Kariya stopped moving immediately as his eyes widened. "You…!" he gasped. The other person's hand stretched out towards him, like an invitation for a dance. There was a sinister smile on his face as an unknown power forced Kariya to kneel onto the ground despite the teenager's protests. He tried to stand up, push himself up but it was no use. He started to panic. He tried to scream for help but his lips were zipped shut, unable to move. He had no control over his own body anymore. He couldn't believe his ears when the other spoke.

"_Make a pact with me, Kariya."_

* * *

Hikaru nervously played with his fingers. He looked to the left and then to right before his attention turned to his fingers again. A few moments later, he stood up from the ledge and hurriedly ran for Kirino.

"Kirino-senpai!" he yelled. Anybody could see the panic in his eyes. The called defender was surprised by Hikaru's sudden yell. "What's wrong?" he asked, taking note of Hikaru's jittery movements.

"I can't find Kariya anywhere! Do you know where he is?" he voiced out his worries. He was with Kariya a few moments after they docked but then when he tried to look for the defender when they cleared the tower, he was nowhere to be seen. He didn't want to cause a chaos so he stayed silent. But more than an hour later, Kariya still wasn't seen and he slowly started to worry. He tried to come up with a logical solution and the only logical thing he managed to think of so far was that Kariya probably told the somebody else where he went. He was holding dearly onto this strand of hope—Kirino was the only person left that Hikaru hadn't questioned yet. But it was ruined when he shook his head.

"No way…" Hikaru held his hands. He looked down. Where in the world was Kariya?

Kirino noticed Hikaru's disappointment and asked, "Why are you looking for him?"

"He's been gone for so long, and nobody knows where he went. It's like he disappeared!" he was trembling. He didn't want anything bad to happen to Kariya. Hikaru felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up into Kirino's determined eyes. "Let's alert the others. If Kariya really did wander alone, then he could be in trouble," the senior said. He was right. If Kariya was alone, there was a higher chance of him encountering the Phantom and it would be more dangerous too. Hikaru nodded his head. They both turned around and it was at that time the leaves of a bush rustled—and out came a confused looking Kariya.

Hikaru gasped and he quickly ran towards the defender. "Kariya! Where were you?! I was so worried!" he asked in a fast pace. Kariya staggered slightly before he managed to stand straight. He was momentarily silent. "I was… by the ruins… when I fell asleep by a tree," he explained slowly, as if calculating his words. His eyes weren't focused on one place—they kept moving from one point to another. Hikaru watched his antics curiously. "Did something happen to you? Did you hit your head?" he questioned when he saw Kariya holding his head as if in pain.

The defender shook his head. "No, no, no such things happened," he denied. "I'm a little dizzy, that's all," he muttered and he slowly walked away from Hikaru, his hand still on his head.

The forward watched as Kariya retreated. He turned his gaze to Kirino, who had the same look of confusion on his face as Hikaru did. They wanted to know why Kariya was at the ruins but decided to ask later when the defender felt better.

* * *

Shindou realized Tsurugi hasn't spoken a word ever since they docked. He guessed that everyone else dismissed this behaviour since Tsurugi wasn't talkative in the first place. But this time he was even quieter than usual it was bugging the brunet. And remembering Tsurugi's pained look when they were on the bus worried him even more. The forward was hiding something—he could feel it.

But he didn't get a chance to push the forward into telling him what it was as Endou called for all of them. Shindou decided to put it off for later.

"I think the best course of action right now is to split into groups and search the grounds. We'll get nowhere if we stick to one place," Endou said with crossed arms. Gouenji stepped forward. "You'll go in pairs. Choose whoever you'd like to go with and come back in an hour," and after he said that everyone immediately decided who they wanted to pair up with. Amagi had grabbed Hikaru by his shoulders enthusiastically and ran off with him. Hayami clung onto Hamano while Shindou and Kirino looked at each other and nodded. Nishiki and Kurama walked away without any words exchanged and Tsurugi walked into another path to the forest—Kariya following closely behind him.

"The managers however, will stay here," Endou ordered before the three girls manage to run off. Midori whined loudly and grumbled a lot but once Akane managed to persuade her it was probably better this way, she calmed down. "Furukaba-san will be looking after you as well, so don't worry," Endou added and the two adults left the three girls to join the search. Midori angrily kicked a stone into a wall. "This isn't fair," she grumbled, still unsatisfied. "Why are we always excluded?" she sat down in a huff next to the standing Aoi. "What do you think, Aoi?" she asked the younger girl, after resting her chin on the palm of her hands. The blue haired girl shrugged. The older manager sighed.

Akane browsed through the pictures of the team she had taken with her camera over the month. Everyone in the pictures beamed from happiness. Not a single face frowned. The quiet manager's grip on her camera tightened. Everything changed so quickly. She didn't like this. Everyone was unhappy. She wished it would end soon. She wished the Phantom would go away soon. She wished so dearly for Raimon to be a cheerful place again.

"Ah, do you girls mind if I go back to the boat? I think the boys missed one of the cooling boxes," Furukaba asked the trio. Midori shook her head and so did Aoi. "Not at all—do you want some help with it?" the redhead offered.

The old man shook his head and Midori nodded in return. "I won't be long," he said and walked towards the shore.

Now only the three of them left, they sat quietly under the shade of the tower. Midori leaned against the hard wall, Akane sat on her legs to her right and Aoi stood by her left. None of them felt like sparking a conversation. What would they talk about anyway?

There was a lull in the forest. Akane's head lifted at the silence. "The birds… they've stopped singing," she muttered, staring into the dark sky. Midori heard her and listened as well. Akane was right. There was not a single sound heard. It was still. "The wind died too…" Aoi mumbled. "Nothing's moving," she commented, looking at the suspended trees around them.

"Oi, oi… this is getting creepy," Midori stood up. She didn't like this unpleasant feeling she had. Her eyes scanned the area for any sign of movement—any sign of life. "Midori-chan…" Akane watched her troubled friend. "It's probably nothing," she tried to reassure her but she was feeling uneasy as well and it wasn't helping.

There was a snap of a twig and three pair of eyes widened. They saw nothing unusual. Midori clenched her fists. The other two inched closer to her for comfort. "W-What was that?" Aoi stuttered, her hands close to her chest.

Thick black smoke appeared in front of them, making them gasp and take a step back. The smoke disappeared as soon as it appeared—a tall figure stood in its place, grinning at them. The girls recognized the figure immediately, surprised by his sudden appearance. Aoi stepped forward—she was about to call his name and ask him what was going on, when an agonizing pain hit them. They screamed before collapsing on the ground—unconscious.

* * *

Shindou and Kirino avoided the branches as best as they could but they couldn't deny it much longer—they were venturing deeper and deeper into the forest, where the trees were taller and the vines were thicker. The sunlight seemed so dim now—the canopy of leaves high above their heads was the reason. "Shindou, I think we should head back now. It's almost an hour and we could get lost if we go in any further," the defender said in a cautious tone. He looked around him and the darkness of the forest. It was dusty.

The brunet turned his head to look at Kirino, who was behind him. He realized Kirino was rubbing his forearms in an attempt to warm them. His eyes softened. Those eyes then turned to the trees around them. All the time Kirino had been following him, who pushed forward into the woods without even knowing why. It was… a hunch. He felt keen to go further and further in. There was something pulling him into these woods. He sighed. The creases on his forehead disappeared. "You're right. I'm sorry," he apologized for his abruptness and turned to Kirino again—before he gasped and lurched forward.

"Kirino, look out!"

Something snapped and the next thing Shindou knew, he was in a land of darkness, his best friend the last thing he saw—and tried to save.


	10. Please Come Back

Hi there guys! So, let me tell you what happened to me. See, my family was moving and I was helping with the move. We were moving out of our two storey house and I was climbing down the stairs when I lost my footing and fell head first.

That was how I was admitted into the hospital. And I was then in a comatose state for a number of weeks. I updated chapter 8 when I got out, and was almost sent to the hospital again by my mom when I updated chapter 9.

And the reason why chapter 10 is late as well, is because I had been settling in my work place again. There were a lot of things to do because of the weeks I missed and we didn't have any Internet connection until now, where I am uploading this chapter. So I hope you will all enjoy the longest chapter of this story yet and forgive me for my tardiness! I read the reviews before uploading this and might I say, they all make my heart go 'whoa! whoa!'

Thank you for all of them!

* * *

**Phantom**

**Chapter 10**

**Please Come Back**

"_Shindou?"_

The brunet stirred. Who was calling him? The voice sounded familiar but he couldn't think of whom it belonged to. Ah… he felt tired. His eyelids were too heavy to open. He wanted nothing more than to sleep and have wonderful dreams. Shindou felt something moving his shoulder and he made a sound that resembled a grunt.

"Shindou!"

His eyes shot open and the first thing he saw were the lush green he was standing on along with another pair of shoes. The brunet blinked once before he looked up into Kirino's face. His eyebrows were knitted; the strategist assumed it was from worry. Shindou shook his head a few times after Kirino drew back his hand that was on his shoulder. He took a step away when Shindou uncrossed his arms and stepped forward, realizing he had fallen asleep leaning against a tree.

"What were you doing, sleeping there?" his best friend asked, eyebrows still knitted together. Shindou was confused now. He couldn't remember why he was sleeping or what he was doing before Kirino woke him but he had a feeling it was something… bad.

"I… I have no idea. I can't remember what I was doing,"

This time Kirino's eyes had something else in them, surprise perhaps—or more confusion and worry. Shindou couldn't tell which. "We were looking for Tenma. I followed you into a clearing and when I looked back you were gone. I searched a good thirty minutes for you," the defender explained. "You don't remember that?"

There was a flash of an image in Shindou's mind that made him jolt. They were in a dark part of the forest with thicker trees and vines where they sought for Tenma—and he saw Kirino looking around in a clueless manner, not aware of the menacing dark figure behind him before he felt himself jumping forward to push Kirino out of the figure's way. And then he blacked out.

Was that a memory of what had happened? If so then how come Kirino's statement contradicted his? None of the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Were they missing some of the pieces or was everything wrong in the first place? This was mind boggling.

"At any rate, we should have been at the tower ten minutes ago," Kirino said. "We should go,"

Shindou had no objections.

* * *

They returned to a chaotic mess. Everyone had panicked when the two of them didn't show up on time. But that was not the only reason they panicked. They couldn't find the managers anywhere and Endou found Furukaba unconscious on the boat. Shindou and Kirino were shocked.

"There's no other explanation. The Phantom took them while we were away," Kurumada gripped his fists.

"But Otonashi-sensei said the Phantom doesn't care about the managers…" Shinsuke reminded them. He was on the verge of tears. Another one of his close friends taken by the Phantom to an unknown location—and they hadn't found any clue to where Tenma could be on the island either. Things were slowly turning horrible. He wanted it to stop. He wanted all of this to stop.

"Ten years gave the Phantom a lot of time to change—it's not impossible for it to take a liking to managers now as well," Endou said, frustrated. What were they to do now? Arranging another search party would probably put all of them in danger again. Safety in numbers they say, and the safest number against the Phantom had always been eleven or more.

"Endou,"

He turned around to see Gouenji walking towards him with something in his hand—a pink camera. The brunet gasped at the familiar object a quiet manager always kept with her. "Where did you find it?" he asked and analyzed the camera.

"It was in the tower. And that's not all. Turn it on," Gouenji said. Endou obeyed. He pressed a button and the first image he saw was a sky view of Fifth Sector's base on the island, where they had their final battle against Team Zero with hundreds of SEEDs as spectators. His eyebrows rose and he raised his head.

"I think it's a clue from the Phantom," Gouenji explained. His brow creased. "I think it wants us to go there."

* * *

It was dark and eerie as they followed Gouenji through corners and long hallways. Without a guide, they would have surely been lost in this maze but Gouenji knew the way to the field and that was enough. Endou walked close to his best friend, the players behind them. Was the Phantom really here? Were the managers and Tenma here? All the answers lay on the field. Right now, he prayed for the best to happen.

He could feel the uneasiness amongst the players. No one spoke a word. Gouenji punched some numbers into a keypad. Endou watched as the doors slid open. The light was almost blinding. Then he smelled the familiar aroma of grass. Wind whispered around the abandoned stadium, as if greeting the arrival of the players that had once brought the cheers of soccer fans to life here. He stepped into the light with Gouenji. Both of them stopped at the borderlines of the field. There was no sign that the field had been touched ever since Fifth Sector moved out.

"This is scary…" Hayami trembled behind Hamano, who sweat dropped. He tried to comfort Hayami by squeezing his shoulder, silently telling him he was there for him. Hamano smiled when Hayami calmed a little.

Shindou stepped forward next to Endou, Kirino by his side. Both of them scanned the field, as if they expected something to happen—anything at all. The dreadful silence was too much to handle. Shindou was about to walk onto the field, when a thick black fog materialised in the middle. Everyone gasped and the brunet recoiled. Could it be? Was the Phantom coming to meet them? A strategic place, Shindou mused. He remembered what Coach Endou told them and there was a possibility they were going to have a soccer match here against the Phantom.

The fog cleared slowly and someone stepped out of it with his eyes closed. Once again, the team was taken by surprise as gasps echoed throughout the not-so-empty stadium. Shindou gritted his teeth. "Tenma!" he called out.

The brunet in the middle of the field had his eyes closed and head down. He was in his soccer uniform, though covered in dirt and dust and was torn in a few places. There was a bruise on his right arm. He looked like he had gone through rough training without rest for a week. When he heard the call of his name, he raised his head and slowly opened his eyes—to reveal pitch black orbs. He grinned from ear to ear and a voice that was not his own spoke—but his mouth didn't move one inch.

"_Shindou-kun? Is that you? Oh, look! Everyone from Raimon is here too!"_ he spread out his arms as if welcoming them. It would have eased the team's nerves, if it weren't for the fact that they knew this was _not _Tenma.

"Enough with your games, Phantom! Let Tenma and the managers go!" Endou shouted, angered that they were too late. Tenma's grin faltered and he looked confused for a while before his eyes trailed to the adult. His grin returned and this time it looked scarier. _"I knew you were familiar. Endou-kun, was it? Ah, and Gouenji-kun too! You were harder to recognize with that hairstyle of yours. What happened to the spikes? Are they out of style now?" _the Phantom mocked and he laughed. Tenma doubled over, his hands on his stomach and his shoulders shook as if it was really him who was laughing. Endou and Gouenji grit their teeth, far from amused.

"_Still the same as ever, I see,"_ Tenma straightened his body. His soulless stare bore through Endou's skull. A shiver ran down Endou's spine. "_Rash, predictable, foolish, and most important of all,"_ the brunet snapped his finger. A soccer ball materialised in his hand. _"A soccer freak."_ he took a look at the ball before his stare turned to the surprised audience in front of him. He smiled. _"Why don't we have a game?"_

* * *

Sangoku was to be their goalkeeper. Shinsuke obliged to his original position as defender. Everyone warmed up as usual—they tried to ignore the tense atmosphere but it was written on their faces. They were anxious, determined yet terrified—all but a particular forward and a defender.

Kirino watched Kariya, who had not spoken a word since his return from disappearing. It was odd and unsettling. Why was he so quiet? What was the reason behind his silence? The defender stretched his arms and warmed up like the rest but he realized Kariya stood still like a statue. And so did Tsurugi. His eyes searched for Shindou and with one look he knew that the captain noticed the two juniors' odd behaviour as well.

"Eleven against one? That's far from fair," Hamano looked dissatisfied. Kirino averted his gaze to the other side of the field. Tenma kicked the ball up and down and seemed to be enjoying himself. For a moment Kirino thought the cheerful brunet was back but the black eyes said otherwise. He must have heard Hamano because he stopped playing with the ball and looked at them, entertained.

"_Who says it's eleven against one?"_ he asked with a tilt of his head. He was trying to keep the innocent act up, Kirino was sure of that.

"Isn't it obvious? There's no one else here that's on your side!" Hamano retorted with a finger pointed at Tenma. "And if you'd let Tenma go I'm sure he'd be on our side as well!"

There was a ghostly chuckle. _"Oh, no—you're quite mistaken there, Hamano-kun," _Kirino gasped at the sudden intrusion. He realized Tenma stood still as ever and Hamano stared at something behind him with a horrified expression. The defender turned around and he had no words to describe what he felt when he saw Kariya with the same pitch black eyes as Tenma's. He had one arm crossed in front of his chest and the other was on his chin, as if he was in deep thought. _"Surprise!"_ Kariya's hand flew to his sides with an elated grin on his face. _"Did you really think I would sit down and do nothing as you soccer players roam the island?"_

"Kariya!" Kirino called out. He felt his heartbeat quicken. No, this couldn't be happening. Not Kariya. Not him. _"Kariya!"_ he called again, with more force this time—in hopes that his voice would reach Kariya's conscience. The Phantom laughed at his futile efforts as its eyes scanned the rest of the team's shocked expressions. Slowly, Kariya's feet began to move towards Tenma's side, joining the opponent. Kirino watched with horror. It was so sudden and so fast, he struggled to conceive.

"Damn it!" Endou couldn't believe it. How had he been so dumb and not notice the signs earlier? Nothing was going as he had planned. In fact, his original plan might have jeopardized the team. Everyone could be in danger. He tried to think of a way out of this when the Phantom spoke again.

"_Ah, but a midfielder and a defender isn't enough, now is it?"_ it sang in a delighted tone. Raimon exchanged confused and terrified glances. _"But let's not worry about that for the moment. Shall we start the game?"_ Kariya looked at Gouenji expectantly, since he was the referee for the match. Reluctantly, the adult nodded and everyone got into position. The Phantom had Tenma at the front in the forward position and held Kariya at the back, in the goalkeeper position. Before any questions were asked, with a snap of his finger, Kariya's jersey turned into the goalkeeper's jersey—the same one Shinsuke owned, complete with gloves.

"_I don't like having my own uniform for the players I take. It's such a bothersome thing, you know?"_ Tenma waved his hand in front of his face with the other on his hip. This time both players on the Phantom's side were moving—the only thing that wouldn't change was their facial expressions. Gouenji and Endou saw and creased their foreheads. "But… how…?" the brunet turned his head from Tenma to Kariya. His actions confused his team even more.

"_You like it, Endou-kun?"_

The Phantom spoke. Tenma and Kariya were still warming up; with the little time they had left.

"_I managed to do it. I found a way to control a player and still let their natural soccer instincts go wild without me commanding them one by one!"_

It sounded so happy, Endou was disgusted. "You… you've improved a whole lot more than I had expected," he almost sounded sorry. Sorry for himself? Sorry for the team? No one was sure.

"_Of course I had!"_ Tenma turned to Endou, his face contorted in anger. That expression didn't suit Tenma at all but the Phantom made it look scarier with the black eyes. _"And it was all because of you!" _he pointed a finger at Endou and grit his teeth. _"You and your little team kept interrupting every single one of my attempts at taking soccer players. You and Raimon!"_ he then grinned—and not in a happy way either, but a terrifying and crazy maniacal way. _"But now I can have my _revenge_,"_ Tenma turned to the Raimon players on the field. Shindou stood his ground, eyes locked with the possessed brunet.

Gouenji gasped. "Change of plans! Everyone out of the field!" he shouted in panic. Endou caught on to what he was doing—or more accurately, the Phantom's intentions—and ran to the field, only to crash into an invisible force field that threw him back. The two adults stood in astounded horror as the Phantom laughed, both Tenma's and Kariya's body shaking. They grinned wickedly. Shindou realized what the Phantom had done and he found himself at a loss for words. It had trapped them—caged them without them realizing at all. He looked at the ball at his feet, before he kicked it up.

"Fortissimo!"

The ball collided with the force field, causing electrical sparks to fly everywhere. Shindou gripped his hands into fists, his hopes high. It looked like it almost broke through, when the ball came down with a loud thud. The captain looked away in annoyance as it rolled to his feet. He got angrier when the Phantom laughed some more. _"A useless effort, Shindou-kun—just like your attempt at saving Tenma-kun,"_ it reminded with Tenma's hands moving up and down in mockery. "Tch," the brunet wanted to glare but he couldn't glare at Tenma. He wasn't angry at Tenma. He was enraged at the being inside of Tenma, controlling his every movement and thought—with the real Tenma locked somewhere deeper in.

Shindou's eyes widened. He ignored Kirino when the defender called his name in concern. Shindou thrust forward with the ball and he passed Tenma in a flash. Everyone was surprised at this sudden action. He stopped a few steps behind Tenma with his foot on the ball. Tenma turned around, wearing the same surprised expression everyone else had. Shindou locked eyes with him again. "You wanted a game," he started and lowered his body a little. "I'll give you a game."

Tenma's surprised face quickly changed into an amused grin. _"We were supposed to wait for the whistle. But it doesn't matter anymore, huh?" _the Phantom said, its voice sounding deep like black ink. Tenma charged towards Shindou with a slide. Shindou kicked the ball up and jumped with it. Nobody else moved as they watched Shindou and Tenma battle for the ball. Sometimes it was in Tenma's possession and sometimes Shindou had it. To determine who was winning seemed impossible.

"You're enjoying yourself, aren't you…?" Shindou's eyes narrowed and he stole the ball, quickly passing it to Kurama. "_Tenma._"

The brunet's body froze at the sound of his name. For a moment, Shindou could've sworn his eyes were their original metallic blue. But the black swirled with the blue, in a fight for dominance. Tenma looked like he was in dreadful pain. "Sh… Shin… dou… sen… pai…" he said, ragged.

"Tenma!" Shindou called again. "Please come back! I know you can fight it, so please! Fight it and come back so we all can go home and play soccer like we always do!" he encouraged. Tenma groaned. He staggered, in an effort to remain on his feet. Shindou watched in worry. Only a little bit left, Tenma needed to fight for a little while longer…

"Tenma! You can do it!" a voice from afar shouted. Shinsuke shouted Tenma's name again and soon many others joined him, a chorus of desperate cries for the brunet to wake up from the Phantom's curse on him.

"Tenma!"

"Fight it, Tenma!"

"Go, Tenma!"

"Don't let it control you anymore!"

He screamed in pain, his hands covering his ears. Tenma's eyes shut closed and Shindou's fists clenched at the action. He heard a groan from far behind him and looking over his shoulder, he saw Kariya in the same position as Tenma, yelps of pain coming out of his mouth. The captain felt a tinge of guilt on his heart, knowing that both of them were in pain because of his attempt at saving them. But there was no other choice. He had to do it. Shindou heard Tenma say his name and his head turned back so quickly, he could have snapped his neck. A smile broke onto his face when he saw that the one eye Tenma managed to open was in its original state—he even saw his reflection in Tenma's metallic blue eye.

"Tenma, you did—!" but he was cut off when Tenma opened his other eye, revealing the same pitch black orb that scared him minutes ago. His smile disappeared and a gasp escaped his mouth. Shindou wasn't even sure who was in control anymore. Was it Tenma? Was it the Phantom? Or was it the both of them at the same time?

"Whatever you do," Tenma spoke, his breathing heavy. That voice he hadn't heard in such a long time. It was because of this that Shindou knew Tenma barely made it through but something told him it wouldn't be long before he was thrown back into the void that he was left in by the Phantom. "Whatever happens, _don't_ make a pact with it," he begged. A teardrop rolled down his cheek and a forced smile appeared on his face. "_Please_, don't,"

His words confused him. For a moment nothing happened, but then Tenma screamed again, louder this time. Waves of aura rolled off of him and they heard something break—something like glass. Rainbow shards floated around them and Shindou knew what Tenma had done. He broke the barrier that kept them in.

"R_un_! Run _a_s _fa_r a_way_ as p_ossible_ and _ne_ver _co_me _bac_k!" Tenma screamed—his voice a mixture of his own and the Phantom's. Shindou stood frozen. He didn't want to run—not without Tenma. And he made that clear to the brunet.

"Don't be foolish! We're not leaving without you!" he made an attempt at grabbing Tenma, but he dodged. Shindou was pushed back by an invisible force and he staggered before Kirino caught him. "I said _leave!_" Tenma shouted with his voice sterner. He fell to one knee in exhaustion. Shindou stepped towards him, wanting to help, but Kirino pulled him back. The two of them stared at each other. Shindou understood that the defender wanted him to comply with Tenma's request. The brunet frowned and furrowed his eyebrows. Kirino shook his head and pointed at Tenma. Shindou saw now that Tenma had created a dark purple barrier around himself. He wasn't sure if it was to keep them out or the Phantom in. When Shindou looked at Kariya and saw the same barrier around the temporary goalkeeper, it was clear that the barriers were to keep them out. Not only did they have to leave Tenma, it looked like they had to leave Kariya as well. Shindou grit his teeth. He closed his eyes and made a run for the exit, Kirino tailing behind him, the two of them being the last ones to leave the field.

"_I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"_ Tenma whimpered. More teardrops fell from his eyes onto the grass beneath him. Soon, he himself joined those tears on the ground. _"Please… forgive me…"_ he muttered. He closed his eyes, unconscious.

A few moments later, the brunet stood up—his eyes pitch black again. Tenma grinned maliciously. The Phantom chuckled in humour. _"A chase—my next favourite thing,"_

* * *

"Everyone, this way!" Shindou led them through the forest. Coach Endou and Gouenji brought up the back, making sure none of the soccer players took a wrong turn in the lush green. They broke into the tower's clearing and headed towards the waiting boat. Furukaba saw them coming and confusion spread across his face. They told him they would be gone for some time but he didn't expect them to come back this soon—and with panicked and terrified expressions too. Endou jumped into the boat, followed by the team players who were right behind him. Gouenji stopped by the entrance of the boat to make sure the rest of the team came in one piece. "Start the engine! We have to get out of here fast!" the brunet ordered and Furukaba obliged without further question.

There was no time to gather back their supplies from the tower. Just like with Kariya and Tenma, they had to leave those too. Gouenji waited anxiously for the kids to run in. Hikaru was at the very back of the group with Shinsuke and the adult watched in horror as long pink threads shot out of the forest, wrapping themselves around the two first years' ankles. Hikaru and Shinsuke screamed as they heard their teammates yell their names in shock.

"L-Let me go!" the forward yelled, kicking at the threads. What were these? They felt nothing like rope, nor normal thread. They were ice cold and stung to the touch in the same time soft like a cat's fur. Yet they looked familiar. Yet they reminded Hikaru of something he had seen many times before.

"_Hunter's Net," _

One recognizable voice echoed from behind the thick trees. Hikaru gulped. He didn't need to hear that hissatsu name twice to know who had come for them. Maybe if he wasn't so reckless, to let Kariya be possessed by the Phantom right under their noses, maybe they would have been able to escape. He looked at Shinsuke next to him, who was still struggling with the pink threads, and saw in his eyes, genuine fear.

"_You can stop doing that,"_

For a moment, Hikaru thought he had spoken to Shinsuke without realizing but then he noticed the shadow that loomed over them. He averted his eyes to the person that stood in front of them, completely ignoring his teammates' panicked yells from behind. "Kariya-kun…" he opened his mouth, hoping that the defender would snap out of it. It didn't work. Kariya analyzed his two preys before he lifted his head to look at the remaining Raimon soccer players. _"It's useless trying to get off this island. You're all trapped,"_ his face expressionless yet his fingers moved with grace, controlling more pink threads that appeared from the ground. The closest to Hikaru and Shinsuke wrapped themselves around their wrists, completely cutting off any attempt to escape. They fought but to no avail. The threads were unbreakable.

"_You've hunted well,"_ Tenma appeared from behind Kariya, a smug grin on his face. _"His skill proved useful in capturing the managers before, now he'll prove himself again by tying every single one of you," _the Phantom laughed. He didn't stop walking. He passed the tied up first years and advanced towards the one person who had dared to move close enough to the scene, with obvious intentions of helping his juniors.

"_Shindou Takuto-kun,"_ it recited, standing face to face with him now. Shindou gazed into the pitch black eyes that seemed to have no end. He gripped his fists, shoulders uptight and jaw clenched. Neither of their faces held any other emotion at first but then Tenma smiled. He stretched out his hand, as if asking for a dance. He then spoke, in a sickly sweet tone.

"_Make a pact with me?"_

The moment he heard those words he felt his world freeze. Nothing seemed to move. Not the trees, not his friends. Not even his body. He felt his jaw drop open slightly and realized he was gasping for air. His heartbeat increased and he trembled in pain. What was happening to him? What did the Phantom do? Make a pact? Then he remembered something vague. Someone… someone told him not to make a pact with the Phantom. But he couldn't point out who was it. Shindou hugged his elbows, his teeth clattered against each other. That person told him to not make a pact, no matter what happened. Why would he say such a thing?

Shindou heard someone scream and he felt himself dropping to his knees. Did that scream come from him? He could barely recognize his voice. Someone called out for his name frantically, over and over and over again till he began to wonder if the person never grew tired. The voice rang a bell in his mind. He couldn't understand why but the more he heard this person shout his name, an image of something pink slowly began to materialize. Soon he realized that pink was hair. How unusual. He didn't know it was possible for someone to have pink hair. But the image disappeared like mist when a hand appeared in front of his face. His body felt so weak, he was so tired. Even his eyes were droopy by now. At any minute, he could pass out. Without hesitation, his hand reached out and grabbed the hand in front of him. A shock of pain surged through his body unexpectedly. With a yelp, he passed out and fell face first to the ground.

Kirino couldn't believe his eyes. No, none of this was happening. It couldn't be happening again. He shouted Shindou's name again and again. He felt his eyes water and he choked when he saw the brunet fall to the ground at Tenma's feet. _"Shindou!"_ he cried out again, as loud as he can. Sangoku and Kurumada were holding him back on the boat, both of them not wanting Kirino to endanger himself like the captain did. Everyone else watched in feared silence as Kirino gave up fighting his two teammates, slumping against Sangoku's shoulder for support. He muttered something about being so stupid and letting Shindou disappear from his view during the search earlier that day.

"_Alright, show's over folks! Now if you could kindly leave the boat and step onto land again, it would save me so much time and effort!"_ a voice from behind the group on the boat exclaimed excitedly. They turned around and were not sure if they were supposed to be surprised to see Tsurugi smiling like an angel at them, his golden eyes replaced by pitch black orbs just like Tenma's and Kariya's.

"Not you too…" Kurama muttered under his breath. He inched away from Tsurugi, slowly following the rest who obeyed his—no, the Phantom's—commands of surrender. He didn't want to know what would happen to him if he disobeyed. In the same time, he didn't want to fall prey to the Phantom's curse and be another one of its pawns. But what choice did he have? What choice _did_ they have?

"_Uh oh, you wait right there, Endou-kun,"_ the Phantom warned and the adult stopped moving immediately. _"You're not coming with them. Children only, you know? Last I checked, you grew up,"_ Tsurugi walked past him, beaming ever so brightly it was sickening, weird and very, very unusual. _"You too, Gouenji-kun. Up, up, you go,"_ it said to the flame striker, who reluctantly boarded the boat with gritted teeth. Both adults looked very unhappy at this unexpected outcome. One could see the rage in their eyes.

"_Now isn't this all better?"_ the Phantom asked and scanned its surrounding through Tsurugi's eyes. Silence was the reply it received and it was pleased. Because it knew that silence meant they were afraid. And nothing made the Phantom happier than to be feared. _"Sail away, already!"_ Tsurugi turned from the sitting ducks to the occupants of the boat. _"We don't need you anymore,"_ it continued with a huff and a pout from Tsurugi. The pose looked hilarious, considering Tsurugi's personality. But nobody was laughing.

"Did you really think I was going to leave so easily? With my players in your hands?" Endou narrowed his eyes at Tsurugi. This thing had almost destroyed Raimon ten years ago. He wasn't going to let it destroy Raimon today.

"_I figured you'd say that!"_ it chirped and Tsurugi clapped his hands together. _"I'm sure you've realized by now that Kariya-kun has the ability to control pink strings that originated from his Hunter's Net. And Tenma-kun can control the wind at his will,"_ it laughed. _"I imagine Tsurugi-kun would have a special power of his own! I wonder what it could be…?" _the Phantom mused to itself in mock curiosity. It already knew what Tsurugi could do under its power. And it was a dreadful thing, really.

Tsurugi snapped his fingers together and a wave of dark purple washed over him. The wave disappeared as soon as it appeared. At first no one noticed anything different about the striker but they realized there was something in his hand. A sword, studded with the finest jewels and carved with beautiful designs, was gripped tightly by Tsurugi. He looked proud of it but everyone was sure it was the Phantom that looked pleased and not the real Tsurugi.

"_Now how about that?"_ the Phantom whistled, admiring the weapon that came with Tsurugi when he agreed to the pact. _"Beautiful thing, isn't it?"_ Tsurugi looked at Endou and smirked. _"It would be a shame if…"_ the sword was brought closer and closer to his neck, before it rested beneath his jaw line. _"It was stained with the blood of a young boy."_


	11. He Who is the Key

Ah... to be fairly honest, I'm unsatisfied with this chapter. It feels like I can still put more into this chapter but there's really nothing else I can add. So I'm a little disappointed but it's alright.

And the story is moving slowly too... I hope next chapter I can change this.

Oh by the way, **ATTENTION PLEASE!** I'm planning to write a romance-genred fanfic after I finish 'Phantom' and I already have prompts ready. This is mostly because I rarely write anything romantic (but even as I say that my prompts are really dramatic uh-oh) and I'd like to practice on that. There is a poll on my profile, and it has the pairings which I have written prompts for a story. Beside the pairings in the poll would be the other main genres of the prompts, romance of course being the main. I hope you all will vote and continue supporting me and my writing! Love you all!

* * *

**Phantom**

**Chapter 11**

**He Who Is the Key**

"_He so easily fell into my trap,"_ it said with a chuckle. Tenma sat on the throne that used to belong to the Holy Emperor, Ishido Shuuji. The view overlooked the field. He rested his head on his hand. _"I'm lucky he's such an idiot,"_ the Phantom continued to insult Endou. Everything within the building was back online, thanks to its powers. Just a flick of the wrist and the lights were on. A clap here and the doors slid open. Who made it possible? Well, the Phantom had to admit it didn't do this alone. It was Shindou's special power—control over inanimate objects. Everything the brunet wills, goes.

Tenma turned his head to the standing figure beside him. It was Tsurugi and he was still as a statue. Blood trickled down his jaw line, where his sword had earlier rested. The Phantom sighed. _"Shindou-kun,"_ it called. Said boy raised his head in acknowledgement. _"Treat Tsurugi-kun's wound. We don't want it infected, now do we?"_ it ordered. Shindou nodded his head and he moved towards the door, black eyes showing no other emotion. Tsurugi trailed behind him, his movements fluid and natural. They were just like puppets and the Phantom was their puppeteer. Obeying every command and fulfilling each task without their consent or knowledge. Who knows what was happening to their real selves, locked deep down inside and trapped in oblivion.

The Phantom suddenly remembered the prisoners it had captured. Tenma turned his head to Kirino, the only other person left in the same room. The rest of the Raimon members were at the field down below—training under the command of the Phantom. There were no shouts heard, no compliments and no enthusiastic smiles. They passed the ball, kicked, volleyed and protected the goal. Just like that—puppets of the Phantom, their bodies no longer their own.

"_Kirino-kun,"_ the defender turned around and faced his master, who resided in Tenma's body. The child sitting on the throne grinned. _"Bring some food to the managers. And don't forget water too. I don't want any of them to die,"_ the order was clear. Who said the Phantom was a bad host? Even if the guests were kept here against their own will and the correct word for them were 'prisoners'.

The pink haired defender obeyed, leaving Tenma and the Phantom.

* * *

"Aoi, are you awake?" Midori shook the junior's shoulder lightly, not wanting to scare her. She scooted back to her place on the bench when she saw Aoi stirring. The girl opened her eyes and Midori released her breath. At least now she knew that none of them were dead. Midori turned to Akane just as Aoi pushed herself off the floor. The quiet manager was fumbling with her fingers, seemingly disturbed she didn't have her camera with her.

"Where… where are we?" Midori heard Aoi ask. She turned her head to the younger one and sighed. "The same place Fifth Sector locked us in a long time ago," she averted her eyes. They were again locked up, and again in the same room. Last time, Coach Kidou and Otonashi-sensei were with them and got them out. But now? They didn't even have Akane's camera. And Midori doubted there were any guards from Fifth Sector who was going to come and check on them. She was sure this was the Phantom's doing—one way or another it had restored the power supply and gained full access to the building.

"Tenma and the others! What happened to them?!" Aoi sounded rather panicked, her eyes darting around the familiar room. No escape route—just like before. Midori sighed. "No idea…" she lowered her head, her hands over her mouth. _"But whatever it is, it can't be good,"_ she whispered to herself. She took note of the aching feeling in her stomach, telling her that something had gone wrong in the plan. What was going to happen now?

The door slid open and the first one to react was Akane, who stood up and gasped. "Kirino-kun!" she said his name with so much relief, her eyes glittering with hope. Midori looked up quickly, barely catching a glimpse of a smiling Aoi, and stared at the person who just entered. He was definitely Kirino, complete in his jersey. But something was… off about him, she could tell. "Akane, stop whatever you are doing," she warned and the girl froze immediately. Midori ignored Aoi's call of her name when she stood up from the bench and took a step closer to Kirino, who had a few packets of food and water in his hands.

"You," she narrowed her eyes at the intruder in front of her. "You're not the real Kirino. Where is he? And the others?" she had almost lost control of her voice. The girl breathed in and out, trying to remain as calm as possible without suddenly resorting to violence or raising her voice.

The Kirino in front raised his head and Midori finally saw his eyes—pitch black and nothing else. Midori recoiled in surprise. "You're definitely not Kirino!" she determined, glaring at him. The imposter simply shook his head, placed the items he had brought with him on the floor and turned on his heels. The door slid closed behind him. A speaker buzzed to life and Kirino's voice echoed with one command.

"_Eat."_

* * *

The shock and anger that grasped Kidou the moment he heard Raimon was lost to the Phantom had been indescribable. He was at an honest loss for words. Endou had looked miserable, really miserable. Gouenji looked like the only one who tried to keep a level head but one could see the pain in his eyes. "It threatened to kill Tsurugi if you didn't leave?" Kidou asked his two other best friends, who nodded solemnly. "That… thing," Endou gripped his fists. "That… _monster!_" he shouted and punched the wall next to him.

The Phantom wasn't just threatening the lives of Raimon soccer players, but it was also threatening the adults' sanity. Kidou crossed his arms, momentarily forgetting his rage to think of a solution. There was one problem. They didn't know the Phantom's weakness. It was like it _didn't_ have a weakness. But Kidou knew that wasn't the case. Everything had a weakness. Even he, Gouenji and Endou had weaknesses themselves. Gouenji for example, his weakness was his very own sister. Back then when Aliea Academy attacked, they had used his sister to blackmail him into joining the academy but failed. If Yuuka was in even worse danger, Kidou had no doubt Gouenji would willingly give up his life to save hers. Kidou himself had to admit, his selfish desires of wanting to live with his sister back then had been his weakness. Long story short, he couldn't move on and accept that they were now living in two different families.

For Endou… his love for soccer had done miraculous wonders—Kidou couldn't deny that. But if Endou didn't have his stubbornness and spirit to never give up, his love for soccer would have brought him disaster after disaster.

Kidou's eyes widened and a gasp flew out of his mouth, attracting the attention of the other two. "Kidou?" Gouenji asked him.

Their strongest aspects… could have brought them their own downfall. Gouenji's and Kidou's love for their respective sisters was admirable and a good trait found in both of them—and Endou his love for soccer, also among his strongest aspects. And these aspects had the potential to destroy them, if they had let that happen. But each of them evaded destruction in their own way.

_Your strongest point may also be your fatal weakness._

"The Phantom… it wants Raimon because of the bond the players share with each other, right? To destroy it," when Kidou saw his best friends nod, he continued, "That was why when it couldn't get the Raimon ten years ago, it tried other teams. Other teams that had strong bonds among their players," his eyes narrowed. "Like the Aliea Academy players."

Kidou could see he was making them uncomfortable by bringing up the teams that the Phantom had tried to take. "Your point…?" Endou asked.

"Those players had played with each other for a long time, care for each other and gone through a lot together," Kidou found himself smirking. "What if we made a new team… a team where the players only know each other's name and abilities, but not the things that they've gone through—a team that doesn't have a bond to destroy?"

The look on their faces was priceless. "So what you're suggesting is that… we take players from other teams, preferably those who participated in the Holy Road tournament, to make a new team?" Gouenji asked, marvelled by his best friend's mind. Kidou nodded his head. But he wasn't done yet. "We may also have to take a risk—we would have to choose players who already have a bond with one or two of the players from Raimon. Friendship, rivalry—any of it," when he saw Endou's forehead creased, he explained. "From your story, if my assumption is correct, those who have a bond with one of the players may be able to pull themselves back to reality. Like what Shindou did to Tenma—they had the strong bond of being captains. Tenma has high respect for Shindou while Shindou admires Tenma for his spirit. The reason that couldn't work was because Shindou is a member of Raimon, a target of the Phantom,"

"There's also the possibility that the Phantom purposely let Tenma take over to lure them into the chase," Gouenji looked down. Kidou bit his cheek. "You're right. But in the same time we can't sit around and take cautious steps. Dealing with the Phantom is all about taking risks—this would be just one out of many," he reasoned and Gouenji let out a sigh. There was a small smile on his face.

"Then I'll leave the new team members in your hands," Endou said to the both of them and he stood up. Gouenji and Kidou looked at each other before their eyes turned to the brunet. "And you?" Kidou asked. Endou looked over his shoulder. He grinned. "I'll talk with all the coaches," and he walked away. The two were left alone. Kidou turned to Gouenji with raised eyebrows. "So? Who do you already have in mind?" he asked the flame striker.

Gouenji crossed his arms with a smile. "I'll get Taiyou. His health is getting better and he'll be looking for Tenma soon enough,"

"You guys better get Minamisawa into the team!" they heard Endou shout from the distance.

Kidou chuckled. "I'll find Hakuryuu. Last time I heard, he's training the best he can to surpass Tsurugi,"

* * *

Midori ate little of what they were given. Aoi was too worried for Tenma and the team to eat anything. Akane ate less than what Midori consumed, before she said she didn't have an appetite. "Aoi, you _have_ to eat something. When was the last time you ate anyway?" Midori asked, genuinely concerned for the junior. As the eldest of the trio, she somehow felt responsible for their well being. Who knows how long they were going to be here, trapped like prisoners. Aoi stared at the slice of bread Midori held out for her and slowly took it, nibbling on it like a mouse. Midori sighed and leaned against the wall behind her.

"I wonder what time it is…" she muttered, regretting the fact that she wasn't the type to wear a watch. Last time she checked, Akane and Aoi weren't keen to wearing watches either. Her eyes glanced to the only opening in the cell. Was that moonlight shining through the bars? Had they passed out for that long? Well, it didn't matter. What mattered now was that she needed to find a way to get them out of here.

Someone rapped on the door and Midori raised her eyebrows. Was that the fake Kirino again? Why was he knocking this time? A moment later the door slid open and the three girls gasped at the figure lingering in the doorway.

"Shuu?!"

"Sshh!" the black haired boy brought a finger to his lips and hissed. The door closed behind him and he knelt down in front of them, on eye level with Akane and Aoi, who were sitting on the floor unlike Midori. "Are you girls okay?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed.

The three nodded. "Yeah, we're okay…" Midori pointed to the door with her thumb. "How did you get in? Do you know where the others are?" she asked. To her surprise, he shook his head. "It's a long story, and we don't have much time. The Phantom—as you and Raimon had called the creature—will send Kirino here again to check on you," he stood up and Midori followed his movements. "I'll break you out of here. Take some of the food it has given you, you might need it for later," he ordered and the three girls took their own food and water bottle each. Shuu nodded his head.

"I'll tell you everything you need to know once we're out of here and in a safer location," he said and turned to the door, motioning for the girls to follow him. Midori had many more questions on the tip of her tongue but decided against asking. Like Shuu said, he would tell them everything they needed to know soon. For now, they had to trust him. The door slid open, to their surprise. How was Shuu capable of doing that? The boy peeked through and looked at the girls again. "Run down the hallway but make sure you start walking once you go around the corner, got it?" he instructed. The girls followed his orders. Midori turned her head around to see Shuu a few steps back with his head turned around, watching for whatever might come from the other end.

They stopped running once they reached the bend. It wasn't easy in the first place, with the load in their hands. Shuu caught up to them. He placed his finger on his lips again, a silent instruction for them to be quiet. They walked the rest of the way. Midori wasn't sure why and she would have preferred it if they ran but Shuu was in charge now. He looked like he knew what he was doing and it was enough to reassure her that everything would be fine. All the doors that would have been locked were easily opened by him with a wave of his hand. Was he a mage? She often wondered afterwards, when she asked him that and he said nothing as a reply.

The air was eerily cold outside the building. That was when Shuu beckoned them to run and they did. He led the way, swerving around trees and Midori cursed a few times when she stumbled. Akane was tired, she could tell so she offered to carry all the water bottles the girls had while the others carried the lighter load. Not long after Shuu offered to carry half of the load, saying that it was safe to walk now.

"Did Coach Endou send you?" Aoi asked, still breathless from the running. Shuu shook his head. "I'm acting on my own accord," he explained. "Then how did you know we were in there?" Midori stared at the back of his head and took a sip of water. She gave the water to Akane next, who took big gulps.

"Because I saw everything,"

* * *

Yuuichi had been reading a book, the one he asked his little brother to find for him, when someone knocked on the door. "Come in," he closed the book, wondering who would be visiting him. It couldn't be his brother—he was told that Raimon was at a training camp. He stifled a gasp when Gouenji slid the door open and walked in. "G-Gouenji-san?" he stammered, not believing his eyes. What was his childhood idol doing here?

The adult nodded his head. "Hello, Yuuichi. Are you doing well?" he asked, taking a seat on the chair. Yuuichi, his eyes still wide, nodded. Things were suddenly silent as neither party said anything. In Yuuichi's eyes, Gouenji looked like he _really _wanted to say something but he held back. The hospitalized boy tilted his head. "Is there a reason behind this sudden visit?" he asked.

Gouenji crossed his arms and leaned into the chair. He sighed. "Yes… it's about your brother," Yuuichi felt his heart stop. Did something bad happen? Gouenji's serious face wasn't helping either. Please, anybody but his brother—anybody but Kyousuke. "What happened?" he noticed his voice shook and his fingers held onto the covers, trembling.

Gouenji felt his heart sank at the sight. He couldn't believe he had to be the one to tell him. And deep down he wished he didn't have to tell Yuuichi at all. Ignorance was bliss, after all. But he had the right to know what was happening to his brother—especially when it was something this bad.

So he told him the truth. From the beginning, the day when Tenma was hospitalized, to the very minute Kidou suggested the creation of a new team. He realized Yuuichi's face had gone paler when he told him of the Phantom's threats to kill Kyousuke. And when he was done, Yuuichi simply stared back at him before sinking deeper into his sheets.

He didn't know what to say or do. His brother was in grave danger and here he was, helpless, obviously not a choice to be in the team to take down the Phantom. He blankly stared at his hands. "Will he come back?" he asked but then realized it was too soft for Gouenji to hear so he repeated himself, louder.

"Will my brother _come back?_"

He stared right into Gouenji's eyes, jaw tight. The adult's mouth was agape, mostly in surprise. In all honesty, he had not anticipated that question. He expected something among the lines of 'Isn't there anything I can do?' but perhaps… this question was more relevant to a guy like Yuuichi. Gouenji pushed himself up and started for the door. Unfortunately, that was a question he didn't have an answer to.

"I'm sorry,"

* * *

Shuu led them to a cave, a suitable place to stay. Along the way he had explained to them how the Kirino that they saw was indeed the real Kirino—but under the Phantom's influence, just like the rest of the team. He told how he saw Tenma a few days before, suddenly on the island and alone. He said he wanted to greet him and ask him why he was here when he realized there was something different about the brunet. Shuu decided to stay away and watch from a safe distance, careful not to announce his presence.

It was when Endou, Gouenji and Raimon came did he finally understand what was going on. "So back then… it was really Kariya-kun who kidnapped us?" Aoi asked, remembering how the defender had appeared and shivered. His eyes had been black at the time. Shuu nodded his head solemnly. "I'm sorry I didn't help back then, but I didn't want the Phantom to know I'm here," he looked at them with a soft smile. Midori grinned at him while Aoi and Akane returned the smile. "It doesn't matter, you helped us get out unharmed in the end," the red haired girl said and sat next to fire Shuu had built. "But what are we supposed to do now? Coach Endou already left with the boat… and the food won't last a week," Midori pondered.

"The food won't be a problem. We're on a lush green island and the sea surrounds us. However, I'm sure Coach Endou will come back soon," Shuu said. He was leaning against the rocky wall, eyes on the cave's mouth. "And if the situation calls for it, I'll hunt for you,"

"You'd do that for us?" Aoi asked, surprised. Shuu turned his head and smiled at her. "It's getting late. The Phantom would notice your disappearance by now. Go to sleep—I'll take the first watch,"

At first hesitant, the girls obeyed anyway. Midori wanted to join in the first watch too but Shuu insisted she rest, so after a little bit more of arguing, she did. When they were fast asleep on a pile of big leaves Shuu had brought up, the boy stood up from his spot and walked out the cave. He stared at the full moon with sad eyes. He sighed and a wave of aura rolled off of him.

"The three of you are under my protection now."


End file.
